As he prepares to reshuffle his frontbench to accommodate the return of Malcolm Turnbull and reinvigorate his post-election line-up, Mr Abbott in his first address to colleagues cautioned against attacks on independents Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor.

Implicit in his remarks at a special party room meeting in Canberra is the view that the situation remains very fluid and the independents might ultimately be persuaded to support a no-confidence motion that would bring down the government.

Mr Abbott's argument was that the relationship with the independents was important given the current variables, and any attacks should be directed at Labor.

Some senior Liberals are concerned that the Nationals will niggle and increase the temperature with the crossbench rural MPs.

Late yesterday, the Nationals leader Warren Truss reinforced that concern by again publicly attacking their recent deal with the government.

''The so-called independents have let regional Australia down,'' Mr Truss said, adding that Mr Windsor and Mr Oakeshott had been lured to minority government with an ''old bone''.

''The independents could have sided with the Coalition, which was overwhelmingly preferred by the voters of regional Australia, including in their own electorates,'' he said.

Liberal veteran Wilson Tuckey - who was defeated at the poll by WA National Tony Crook - also chimed in yesterday with his own bout of sledging.

Mr Crook was a ''nobody'', Mr Tuckey said, who would be lucky to have anyone turn up to his maiden speech other than his relatives.

He also criticised the parliamentary reforms brokered by Mr Oakeshott and Mr Windsor, claiming they would do little other than help independents skip divisions in Parliament.

MPs on both sides were back in Canberra en masse for the first time since the August 21 poll.