The threat to leave the Coalition and the backdown that followed has cost the National Party dearly, according to South Coast MP and Local Government Minister Shelley Hancock.
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"They've lost some credibility, they've lost some skin," Mrs Hancock said.
"This is not the way you do business in Coalition by threatening to simply go to the cross bench but then retain your ministries.
"I suspect as soon as they could see the writing on the wall, that they would lose their cars, their offices, their salaries, they backed down."
It now appeared the junior Coalition partners had chosen their salaries over the farmers. Mrs Hancock said.
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The Nationals threatened to abandon the Coalition over new state planning laws designed to protect koalas. An ultimatum issued by NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Thursday put the Nationals on notice they would lose their portfolios if they moved to the cross bench.
By Friday morning, the Nationals agreed to a humiliating backdown.
Saying the koala protection policy would only affect developers and not farmers, Mrs Hancock said the Nationals rebellion, led by Mr Barilaro, was ill-timed and misjudged.
"[The policy] was about protecting our most beloved icons, for goodness sake. Look at the people who've been spending time caring for koalas with their burnt feet, the donations that have poured in from the country, to support koala protection and koala caring," she said.
Reluctant to be drawn on Mr Barilaro's leadership, Mrs Hancock said rumblings from Nationals MPs had been leaked to their Liberal Party colleagues.
"But whether they now stand behind him, I don't know," she said.
She conceded the past two days had not been easy.
"The whole experience is beyond belief."
