Mr Joyce made it plain there would be little comment by the Nationals.

“They will decide themselves which they are going to through a ballot,” Mr Joyce said.

“The National Party will continue to provide stability and consistency, and we will not be partaking in some mad chaotic fracas.

“We will continue to try and hold the respect of the Australian people in our thoughts and in our actions.”

Senator John Williams said there would be negotiation if there was a change of leadership.

“Warren Truss made it quite clear that if Tony Abbott is removed, a new agreement would have to be drawn up for us to back the Liberal Party into government,” Senator Williams said. 

Mr Turnbull resigned from cabinet following Question Time on Monday afternoon and told the Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, that he would challenge for the leadership. 

“It is clear enough that the government is not successful in providing the economic leadership that we need,” Mr Turnbull said.

"We need advocacy, not slogans. We need to respect the intelligence of the Australian people.”

Duty Senator for New England Doug Cameron said the Coalition was split wide open.

“It’s been reported that Malcolm Turnbull has given up some of his values to get the numbers,” Mr Cameron said.

“I don’t think we need a political opportunist as the Prime Minister, and I think the National Party will be deeply concerned about the change of leadership.”

“Malcolm Turnbull participated in all the decisions leading up to the first budget and  is on record as saying it was all just a bad sales job.”

One who knows Mr Abbott’s style as well as anyone is former Member for New England Tony Windsor, who said Mr Turnbull would either win or resign.

“Turnbull’s a better operator than Abbott, I’ve said that for some time,” Mr Windsor said.