'We're better together' Nats leader says on Coalition breakup talk

Liberal MP Bridget Archer called for a "rethink" of her party's decade-long alliance with the Nationals if the Liberal Party is to win back more than a dozen metropolitan seats and avoid losing more to independents at the next election.

During the last election, the Nationals' reluctant acceptance of the government's climate policy - done only in exchange for the multi-billion-dollar off-the-books war chest - was used to wedge moderate Liberals in inner-city seats.

Several successful independents used variations of the line "a vote for moderate Liberals is a vote for [former Nationals leader] Barnaby Joyce".

"The loser in the current arrangement is the Liberal Party," Ms Archer said.

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Nationals leader David Littleproud said his party wouldn't apologise for having different values and beliefs, but believes the Coalition is necessary to bring those divergent views together and create policies that benefit all Australians.

"We're better off together," Mr Littleproud said.

"[The Nationals] are the movement for regional Australia, that is our sole purpose. So better to have us there formulating policies that take into account regional Australia.

"There's 30 per cent of Australians that live outside of a capital city. Their voice should be just as strong as someone living in a capital city."

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Mr Littleproud said he and Liberal leader Peter Dutton had demonstrated the two parties could respectfully have different positions on policies, to allow the Opposition leader "the clear air he needs the markets he operates in".

"We got to a position on the Voice to Parliament far earlier then [the Liberals] and I made it clear to Peter [Dutton] if they couldn't get to the position that we had, that was okay and we respect that," Mr Littleproud said.

Several of the Liberal's inner-city seats are held on a knife's edge and Ms Archer said the views of the Nationals - such as the party's opposition to the Voice and grudging acceptance of climate targets - were hurting the Liberal Party's vote.

"If you don't do anything different or diverge or learn from the lessons of the last election, then those [seats] are all at risk," Ms Archer said.

"It won't be National party seats at risk, it's more Liberals. They are the future of the party, a future government."