Prime Minister Scott Morrison says he made the controversial decision to intervene in some pre-selections in New South Wales because he is "very serious about having great women" in his ranks.
In an interview with 7.30, Mr Morrison said he was concerned the futures of Environment Minister Sussan Ley and the member for Reid, Fiona Martin, were under threat from "factions".
He said that he had "never had any time for the factional games in the Liberal Party", a suggestion some of his colleagues privately dispute, and insisted he had to act to get the "best candidates in the field" on the eve of an election.
"I'm asked all the time, 'Why wouldn't the Prime Minister do more about getting good women in Parliament and stand up for the women in Parliament?'" he said.
"So, I stood up for the women in my team.
"That was what the principal reason was and people know that."
Mr Morrison's internal opponents have a completely different view of the situation.
They allege he allowed his ally, Immigration Minister Alex Hawke, to deliberately delay pre-selections to ensure candidates loyal to him could be hand-picked for some seats.
It has led to a bitter factional fight and infuriated some rank-and-file branch members, who are angry they have not had a say on the candidates in 12 seats.
In some potentially winnable electorates, such as Tony Abbott's old stomping ground of Warringah, it has meant that campaigning is not as well advanced as is normally the case.
On Tuesday a court ruled the process was valid and Mr Morrison insisted the selection had not been run by faceless men.
"This process was done by myself and the [NSW] Premier. They see our faces all the time. And the other one was Christine McDiven, who was the first-ever female president of the federal Liberal Party. Now she's certainly not a faceless man, she's a woman."
Liberal senator calls PM's claims 'bilge water'
The Prime Minister's comments have not been well received in parts of his own party.
Liberal NSW senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells rejected suggestions he was protecting women.
In a statement to 7.30 she said: "Great women? What bilge water! This is his code for 'I want groupthink'! Morrison is simply using the 'gender card' to conflate captain's picks to trash democratic processes in NSW. I do not accept criticism from a person who lacks a moral compass."
Senator Fierravanti-Wells is a right-wing factional warrior and has been involved in multiple internal party disputes during her long career.
She has not been a fan of Mr Morrison for some time and it is well known she would have preferred Defence Minister Peter Dutton to be prime minister.
On budget night last week, just days after Senator Fierravanti-Wells lost pre-selection, she used parliamentary privilege to launch a scathing attack on Mr Morrison's character, calling him a "bully" and an autocrat.
"In my public life, I have met ruthless people. Morrison tops the list … Morrison is not fit to be Prime Minister," she told the Senate last Tuesday.
Yesterday one of Senator Fierravanti-Wells's former staffers, Michael Towke, also publicly criticised the PM.
"He's not very credible," he said.
Mr Towke, who was aligned with the right faction in 2007, beat Mr Morrison and several other candidates in a pre-selection vote in the safe southern-Sydney seat of Cook in 2007.
The result shocked leading moderates in the party.
Ultimately, it led to a bitter brawl and the result was eventually overturned. Mr Morrison became the candidate.
In a statutory declaration in 2016, which was obtained by 7.30 and other media outlets at the weekend, Mr Towke accuses Mr Morrison of urging pre-selectors not to vote for him because his "family heritage was Lebanese".
He said claimed Mr Morrison had suggested "that a candidate of Lebanese heritage could not hold the seat of Cook, especially after the Cronulla riots" and told people that there was a strong rumour he was a Muslim. Mr Towke is a Catholic Maronite.
Mr Morrison denied the allegations.
In the past 24 hours, an outgoing state Liberal, Catherine Cusack, also hit out at the Prime Minister, calling him a bully.
She added that she could never vote for Mr Morrison, especially given his handling of the recent floods crisis.
After Mr Morrison's interview aired, former Liberal MP Julia Banks also disputed the Prime Minister's claim he wanted to support great women.
"According to Morrison all the women (& men) in his own party just have "axes to grind". But the reality is that all the women Liberals who come out & support Morrison have done a patriarchal bargain with him," she said in a statement.
Ms Banks has previously accused Mr Morrison of being like a "menacing controlling wallpaper" during the period after Malcolm Turnbull lost the top job.
PM again rejects internal criticism
Speaking to 7.30, Mr Morrison shrugged off the criticism of his character and suggested it came with the job of prime minister.
"That's pretty normal in politics, particularly when you're going into an election," he said.
"When people have become frustrated in the political process, they've lashed out."
Many of Mr Morrison's ministers have also come to his defence, calling the claims aired over the past week a targeted political "hit-job" on the eve of an election.
So have some Lebanese community leaders, including Sydney GP Jamal Rifi, who rejected suggestions Mr Morrison was racist.
"I support the PM," he told 7.30.
"[Those allegations] are totally out of character for someone that I got to know all the years, so it definitely does not stick with me."
Mr Morrison is expected to fire the starting gun for the election campaign in the coming days and Australians will go to the polls in mid-May.
Watch the full interview on 7.30 on ABC iview.
