Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack has reportedly lost the Nationals leadership to a resurgent former leader Barnaby Joyce.
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The Nationals held a party room meeting at 10.30am on Monday, where a vote to spill the leadership could be brought on.
Mr Joyce had downplayed that possibility ahead of the meeting, telling the Seven network, "there is no prospect of a spill at this time".
Mr McCormack went into the meeting standing firm in the face of the second challenge to his leadership in the past 18 months.
"If I survive, then the people who actually run against me, I think they should think long and hard about their futures, and I think they should think long and hard about the role they need to play in government and they should stop being so destabilising," he said.
Mr Joyce's last attempt to roll Mr McCormack in February 2020 ended in failure.
Mallee MP Anne Webster earlier told The Canberra Times the leadership speculation was a "disappointing distraction".
"Regional communities are not interested in the internal rumblings from Canberra," she said ahead of the meeting.
"They sent me here to advance their interests, that's what I'm doing. The Coalition has worked well together to bring Australia through the worst economic set back in 75 years. We need to continue to support our communities to recover from this pandemic."
Nationals frontbencher Darren Chester, a staunch McCormack supporter, said country voters were sick of "bulldust" around leadership tensions.
He believes the deputy prime minister still has majority support.
"He should continue, in fact I think he'll lead us all the way to the next election," Mr Chester told reporters.
Queensland MP Michelle Landry is hopeful of a "normal" partyroom meeting.
"People just don't want to hear us talking about ourselves and having leadership challenges," she said outside Parliament House.
"I for one have had an absolute gutful of it all."
Outspoken Joyce backer Matt Canavan said he wouldn't ask for a return to the front bench under a change of leadership.
"There's a role for an independent voice in the Senate to play for regional Queensland in particular in my case," he told reporters.
While Liberal interventions in internal issues rankle Nationals, Prime Minister Scott Morrison threw his support behind Mr McCormack.
"I've got a wonderful partnership with Michael. We've worked very closely together and provided great stable leadership for Australia," he told 2GB radio.