The former deputy prime minister of Australia has hit out at Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull over rising electricity prices, launching a stinging attack.

“Every bit of modelling has said in the past that renewables reduce prices, and the fact is the more renewables we've got, the higher prices go."

“Your first job for your nation is to look after the dignity of your people and the best expression of their dignity is their capacity to keep themselves warm in winter and cool in summer,” Barnaby Joyce, the Nationals MP for New England, told Alan Jones.

“And we’ve got people in Tamworth – Tamworth isn’t as cold as Armidale – Tamworth…people going to bed at half past four and half past five in the afternoon just to keep warm. This is bullsh-t. This has got to stop. “

Former prime minister Tony Abbott has also attacked the government’s energy policies, suggesting modelling showing it will lead to a fall in power prices is “completely implausible”.

“Frankly, pigs might fly,” Abbott told 2GB radio in Sydney on Wednesday.

The final detailed design forecasts savings up to $550 a year, relative to 2018 prices, through the 2020s. Of that, $150 is directly attributable to the policy.

State and territory ministers are due to meet with the federal energy minister Josh Frydenberg to potentially sign off on the deal next week.

Coalition can 'turn the show around'

Joyce’s comments come after Saturday’s by-elections which saw voters in each electorate vote in the Labor candidate. He has also penned an opinion piece for News Corp reiterating the views, just a day after he told Sky News the Coalition would lose the next federal election unless it changed its ways.

“We’ve got to jerk ourselves back into gear, we’ve got to understand people on the weekend in Longman, 16 percent of people, voted for a lady who was on a holiday in the Irish sea, on a boat,” Joyce told Jones.

“The reason they did that is they’re screaming at you ‘wake up, read the writing, you’ve got to deal with my standard of living as an Australian citizen, you’ve got to understand one of the primary issues there is my capacity to not be terrified every time the power bill turns up’.

“In the past in this nation, we had the cheapest power, the cheapest power in the developed world, in the OECD, now we have the most expensive.”

Speaking to Jones, Joyce argued the Coalition could “turn the show around” but said they need to look at what happened with the by-elections.

“We need to start thinking about who needs our support most, who are those who can least afford their lifestyle.”

Barnaby Joyce has hit out at the PM over electricity prices (AAP Image/Andy Tyndall) (AAP)

Commenting on the drought and government assistance for farmers, Joyce said the prime minister needs to meet with NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian to discuss what can be done.

“They’ve got to meet in Tamworth or Dubbo or somewhere, they’ve got to walk into the room, leave their advisors outside the door, forget about everyone else, say what are you putting on the table, what am I putting on the table, what are we going to do,” Joyce said.

Joyce’s media blitz on energy prices and the drought come as Nationals deputy leader Bridget McKenzie declared strong support for the former party leader, stating he is “back in the saddle”.

“I think when you see his public commentary on drought, when you see his public commentary on live sheep exports, Barnaby Joyce is a significant contributor, always has been,” McKenzie told the National Press Club on Wednesday.

“He delivered a great amount, not just to regional Australia in his time in the leadership, but indeed to our party room.