The Morrison government has been buoyed by the NSW Coalition’s return to power but a backlash from voters in the bush suggests Nationals MPs are in line for a battering at the federal election in May.

The Berejiklian government appears set to retain office – albeit potentially in a minority government – in a win that gives much-needed momentum to the federal Coalition. However the surge of support in NSW for the Shooters Fishers and Farmers Party has revealed deep-seated anger towards the Nationals in rural seats.

The Shooters party easily retained the regional NSW electorate of Orange and is likely to snatch the Nationals seats of Barwon and Murray. The Nationals also suffered massive swings of up to 20 per cent in some seats and is struggling to hold on in others.

Former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce says the party must "take its medicine" and listen to rural voters. Credit:LUKAS COCH

The Shooters party campaigned hard in the drought-affected regions on the perceived neglect of rural seats by their Nationals MPs, including poor infrastructure, health and communications services and a failure of water management in the parched Murray Darling Basin river system. The rise of the Shooters party comes despite renewed concerns over gun ownership after the Christchurch massacre.