The senior Nationals senator attributed the election defeat to the Liberals and the Coalition’s energy policy, proposing that his party should begin fielding candidates in suburban constituencies – areas traditionally dominated by the senior Coalition leader.

“The Nationals Party has been able to hold seats,” Canavan told Today this morning.

“Nuclear power is part of building the future industrial base of our country,” Wilson said.

“If we don’t pursue this, we’re essentially deciding between returning to coal or facing national deindustrialisation. That’s not a path I’m willing to endorse.”

Nationals leader David Littleproud and senior senator Bridget McKenzie have also called for the Coalition to continue backing nuclear.

Canavan, who claimed last year the opposition was “not serious” about nuclear, called this morning for a focus on coal power.

“The original sin of our policy design was we designed an energy policy to reduce emissions, not reduce power bills,” he told Today.

“I believe the primary concern for most Australians is lowering the cost of living. I’m open to supporting any energy solutions that achieve that goal.”

“Clearly, coal remains the cheapest form of power… we did not mention the four-letter word of coal and we suffered for it, in my view.”

The CSIRO has found for seven years in a row that renewables have the lowest cost of any new power generation in Australia.