The former Independent MP for Indi on Tuesday flagged her confidence in Senator McKenzie after the minister's Nationals colleagues criticised her performance on Monday.

"There's a lot of controversy nationally about how the government is managing the drought, both the policy and the implementation," Ms McGowan said.

"Senator McKenzie is an experienced minister and a very strong political operative and I have every faith she will know how to manage the competition within the government to both deliver good policy as well as effective implementation."

However asked if Senator McKenzie was doing a good job, Ms McGowan said she could not say.

Ms McGowan retweeted a tweet by agricultural consultant Danielle England which declared Senator McKenzie "a great ag leader" and told her she led "differently to the men (because you aren't a man), you have the skills, knowledge, experience for the job".

Ms McGowan said she did not think gender was a factor in Senator McKenzie's situation but she liked supporting and standing up for women leaders.

Senator McKenzie was pressured by Labor's Murray Watt during Senate estimates on Tuesday about her attitude to the drought and tension over her Nationals deputy leadership.

She bristled at the suggestion she was not concerned about the drought and said she was consulted on policies related to the big dry.

Meanwhile, Nine News on Tuesday reported there was an "urgent review" being done by the federal government on its threshold for drought relief funding after Moira Shire failed to qualify by 0.01 per cent.

Under rules a council has to have 17 per cent of its population employed in primary industry and Moira has 16.9, according to the federal government.

The Victorian Agriculture Minister Jaclyn Symes on Tuesday tweeted "just give them the money" and linked to 2018 ABS date showing 19.5 per cent of Moira jobs tied to agriculture, forestry and fishing.