The new Liberal MP Katie Allen has canvassed the need for the government to appoint a dedicated climate change minister, as the Coalition splits on how best to “evolve” its policy response.

Allen, who was elected for the seat of Higgins in May, is one of a number of Liberal MPs who have been arguing internally for the government to increase its ambition on climate change against resistance from conservatives in the Coalition.

Allen’s suggestion for a climate change portfolio was made in a group chat of MPs in a discussion about how the government’s policies could be better communicated, sources have confirmed. She did not advocate in the group that the government needed to do more, but suggested there was frustration that voters were not hearing the government’s message. She argued that the “significant investment” being made by the government did not appear to be acknowledged in the community.

Allen proposed that her fellow Victorian MP Tim Wilson would be a good advocate to communicate the government’s policies.

Both Allen and Wilson declined to comment on the discussion.

Wilson was one of the MPs who spoke in Tuesday’s partyroom in favour of more ambitious climate action and has also urged the government to consider nuclear power.

His call for more action was backed up by Allen, along with the member for Reid, Fiona Martin, and the North Sydney MP, Trent Zimmerman, who argued that the government needed to ensure it respected divergent views on the issue, and acknowledged the strength of feeling for more action in inner city seats.

Nationals MPs George Christensen, Barnaby Joyce and David Gillespie argued that the government should not succumb to pressure from inner city voters to do more on climate, with Joyce saying it was a “hobby horse” that was being pursued through the tragedy of bushfires.

On Wednesday morning, following the partyroom stoush, Morrison said he would not “be bullied” into more action on climate change.

“We listen to Australians right across the country. Not just in the inner city,” Morrison told Channel Nine.

“It’s important to listen to everybody but take people forward on practical, balanced action that doesn’t go and write people’s jobs off, or industries off,” Morrison said.

“It’s about technology, not taxation. So we won’t be bullied into higher taxes or higher electricity prices. What we’ll do is take practical action that deals with these challenges.”

Morrison also dismissed overnight calls from the UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, for other countries to join Britain in striving for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

“I would never make a commitment like that if I couldn’t tell the Australian people what it would cost them,” Morrison said.

As the Coalition seeks to reposition on climate, Morrison faced questions in Parliament about the government’s response to the bushfires.

In response to a question from the Warringah MP, Zali Steggall, asking for a bipartisan approach to climate change in the wake of the crisis, Morrison said Australia was already acting.

“Emissions reduction is important. We’re acting on that reduction. I can tell you also resilience to climate is also important,” Morrison said.

Scott Morrison and the deputy prime minister, Michael McCormack, during question time on Wednesday. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

“Hazard reduction is important, if not more important, than emissions reduction when it comes to protecting people from fire and hotter, drier, longer summers in the future.

“Also, in a country ravaged by drought, and the impacts that we have experienced, and that drought continues, building dams is climate action now.”

The opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, asked Morrison why the government had not called a meeting of state governments when the bushfire crisis began – a request made in writing to the prime minister by Labor on 22 November.

Morrison said the government had responded in an “unprecedented” manner to the fires, and it was “disappointing” that Labor was trying to “politicise the bushfires”.

Earlier, Liberal MP John Alexander used his condolence speech on the bushfires to call climate change “the elephant in the room”.

“Today is a day for commemoration, not politics. But one thing I would like to say is the need to recognise that these fires are not a warning about climate change – they are climate change,” he said.

“The leader of the opposition said that ‘this is not normal’. I fear this is actually the new normal.

“In focusing on saving this country for our grandchildren, we risk forgetting we need to save our neighbours. We must obviously mitigate future risks and change our ways, but we also must adapt because these longer, hotter summers will be our new normal.”

The challenge facing Morrison to balance the Coalition’s competing constituencies was further highlighted on Wednesday, when the new Nationals party deputy leader, David Littleproud, argued that the government should look to retrofit coal-fired power stations to reduce emissions.

Party leader Michael McCormack, who survived a leadership challenge on Tuesday, said the government was taking action on emissions reduction in a “responsible way”.

“We don’t want to be sending industry offshore. And there is a future for coal in this country.”

But despite the divergent views, home affairs minister Peter Dutton rejected suggestions the party was divided.

“I don’t see huge points of difference in our party room,” he told the ABC.

“Obviously, as we’ve all pointed out, we’re experiencing hotter weather, longer summers, but did the bushfires start in some of these regions because of climate change? No. It started because somebody lit a match. There are 250 people as I understand it, or more, that have been charged with arson. That’s not climate change.”

There is no evidence that anything like that number of people have been arrested over alleged arson in connection with this summer’s bushfires, let alone charged.

As the political debate over climate action continues to rage, the RBA governor, Philip Lowe, told the National Press Club that the cost to the economy of bushfires and drought saying they were “a stark reminder that the economic effects of these climate events are material”.