Former prime minister John Howard insists a disappointing election outcome for the coalition is not the end of the world.
And in a message directed at disgruntled Liberal MPs, he told reporters in Canberra: "People shouldn't start slitting their throats.
"They should remember the character of their party," he said, noting it was a broad church and the custodian of conservative "small L" liberal tradition.
Earlier, a senior minister warned that sniping at Malcolm Turnbull threatened to undermine the prime minister's ability to bargain with independents.
As the coalition faces the possibility of forming minority government, Attorney-General George Brandis says that anyone with views on the campaign and Mr Turnbull's performance should make them known only behind closed doors.
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"Stability is always better than instability, discipline is always better than indiscipline, playing a team game is always better than self-indulgence," he said.
"It is not helpful for anyone on the coalition side to be engaging in the kind of public criticism which might potentially weaken Mr Turnbull's bargaining position."
Several ministers and backbenchers are said to be discussing holding a partyroom meeting as soon as next week to make sure they're consulted before any negotiations with crossbenchers.
Senator Brandis said such talk was entirely unnecessary because a Liberal Party meeting was always held shortly after an election.
"For obvious practical reasons one has to wait until the outcome in the close counts is settled so that all the people who are entitled to be there can be there," he said.
Several seats are still too close to call and the outcome of Saturday's election might not be known until the end of next week.
The one thing that united all coalition MPs was the desire to win the next election, Senator Brandis said.
"The surest way to lose the next election is for us to commence the new parliament with an entrenched culture of infighting."
Fellow cabinet minister Simon Birmingham also acknowledged there was disappointment at the election result.
"But we have held onto government, which it didn't look like we would do 12 months ago," he said.
