Senior Nationals members say their party deserves a greater role in the Coalition after it fared better than the Liberals overall in the election. Nationals MPs retained all of their seats in the House of Representatives and achieved a swing towards the party in Bendigo. The party has so far secured 15 lower house seats, including six from the Queensland-based Liberal National Party (LNP).

The Coalition has secured 39 seats and are ahead in a further three. Michael McCormack was re-elected as member for Riverina at the federal election. (ABC Riverina: Jess Scully) Riverina Nationals MP Michael McCormack, who had a six per cent swing towards him, said his party would push for more shadow ministries because it made up a greater percentage of the Coalition.

"It's worked out on a per capita basis with how many seats you hold as part of a joint number in the Coalition," he said. Federal National Party president Kay Hull said she was proud of the Nationals brand as it held up well in the election. She said a conversation needed to be had on the power between the parties.

"I expect that conversation will be very strong, over the next few weeks and three years in opposition," she said. "We are not backward in coming forward". Mr McCormack said while his party did well in the polls, the Coalition loss could not be understated.

"Of course you can't be crowing about victories and whatnot when obviously the national result was disastrous," he said. "There's some soul searching to do, not just the Liberals, but the Nationals too." Leadership concerns Re-elected LNP member for Flynn, Colin Boyce, has called for Nationals leader David Littleproud to resign.

"He was quite prepared to take 50 per cent of the glory if the Coalition won the government, and now it's time for him to take 50 per cent of the responsibility for what is a monumental political disaster for conservative politics," Mr Boyce told ABC Capriconia on Monday. Mr McCormack said he supported Mr Littleproud but did not rule out whether he would contest the leadership if Mr Littleproud stepped aside. "The National Party, we have our squabbles from time to time as does every party, but generally we keep them internally and that's important," he said.

Kay Hull says the Nationals' brand is strong. (ABC Riverina: Jess Scully) Female representation Of the 14 lower house Nationals MPs, just three are women. The party also has only three female senators after the likely loss of Perin Davey.

But Mr McCormack said the party was still representative of the nation's diversity. "I remember when I was the [Nationals] leader, we were down to two women in the National Party and we tripled that under my leadership," he said. Ms Hull said she encouraged women to put their hand up for the Nationals as their perspective stood out in parliament.

But she said the voters had to put them in the role. "I've been there myself, and I believe that my voice was a different voice when I was sitting in the House of Representatives," she said. "But the voters have to choose to want to have women represent them."

Advice for Liberal Party Mr McCormack said the best advice he would give to the Liberal Party was to take their grievances to their party room, rather than to journalists. "Anonymous Liberal people who so often background and brief journalists in Canberra, shut your bloody mouths," he said.