Not surprisingly, the loss of the giant inland seats of Barwon and Murray at the NSW election has sent shockwaves through the Nationals and the party's core supporters.
These two traditional Nats strongholds - held over the years respectively by such party giants as Wal Murray and Tim Fischer - together account for nearly 60 per cent of the state, by area.
Their loss to a minor party highlights the dilemma now confronting the Nats - at federal level as well as state - as the party wrestles with conflicts of interest within its once-close-knit constituency.
Nowhere is this conflict more apparent, or toxic, than in the area of water policy and management, as outgoing minister Niall Blair found to his cost, along with the Nats candidates for Barwon and Murray.
Following the much-publicised fish kills in the Lower Darling, the Nats are now seen by many of their former supporters as having cosied up too much with the big irrigators, and King Cotton.
But the party's brief has always been to champion the interests of rural and regional Australia, not just farmers. And cotton, for all its bad press, is a regional industry vital to many inland communities.
Similarly, the Nats are often accused of being too close to the mining industry in all its forms, including coal-seam gas extraction, but mining is also a key component of many regional economies, as well as our biggest export earner and our main source of affordable energy.
The Nats, and their forerunner, the Country Party, have a long history of dealing with conflicts of policy interest, as veterans of the wool reserve price debate and wheat market deregulation would remember.
Its success in weathering these sorts of divisions usually comes down to the calibre of the party leader and ministers of the day, and their ability to "sell" the party's position to its wider constituency.
So far, it could be argued that neither John Barilaro at state level, nor his federal counterpart Michael McCormack, has tried hard enough in this regard. Perhaps neither enjoys poking his head above the proverbial parapet.
One positive consequence of the state election result has been Premier Gladys Berejiklian's decision to hive off a new, separate water ministry from the oversized mega-portfolio held by Niall Blair.
In many respects it will be seen as a poisoned chalice that has been handed to the Nats' Melinda Pavey, given the level of anger swirling around inland water issues.
Amid calls for NSW to walk away from the problematic Murray-Darling Basin Plan, it will be up to the new minister to either pursue that drastic line or work to restore stakeholder confidence in the plan.
At least she might also be able to make some positive announcements as time goes on, given the government's timely promise of $1.4 billion for much-needed new dams and other water infrastructure.
