Former minister Eric Abetz wants conservatives to be promoted in the Turnbull ministry.

His colleague Kevin Andrews has called for Tony Abbott to be returned to the frontbench, arguing it would be a magnanimous thing for the now-prime minister to do.

When asked for this thoughts, Senator Abetz told ABC radio on Thursday: "I think it would be helpful if the conservative side was to be embraced somewhat more willingly by the leadership of the party."

Senator Abetz said the tight election result shows a more balanced ministry would be of assistance.

He argued the likes of Zed Seselja and Michael Sukkar are excellent people with a great future ahead of them, but would be unlikely to be added straight into cabinet.

"As a result of which, one assumes that people with proven judgment and discernment might be beneficial in the cabinet," he said, without directly naming Mr Abbott.

But he conceded decisions about appointments are up to Mr Turnbull.

"It will set the tone going forward as to who he appoints and that is a judgment for the prime minister to make."

Senator Abetz said it was important for the government to rebuild and not seek to "purge" particular elements of the party.

"The leadership needs to be bigger than that," he said.

"The leadership needs to say `right, we have to regroup' and follow the Menzies and Howard approach of embracing all sides of the party, putting them in cabinet together so you get good, balanced outcomes."

Mr Andrews said the party leadership and the frontbench should be balanced and it would make sense to reappoint Mr Abbott.

"That would be the magnanimous thing to do and the practical thing to do in terms of making sure that this is the party of Menzies, the party of Howard, is the party that broadly represents both liberals and conservatives," he told Sky News on Wednesday night.

Mr Andrews, who was dumped as defence minister by Mr Turnbull last year, said Mr Abbott had a lot of experience as a former prime minister and was seen as a figurehead of conservatives within the party.

He said the government also needed to regain the trust of many voters who chose to side with minor parties rather than the coalition.

"We need to regain their trust and will only regain their trust in my view if we do show that we broadly represent that cross-section of views," he said.