NSW Liberal preselection crisis: why Morrison and Perrottet want to rush case to high court

Scott Morrison speaks to the media alongside Alex Hawke. Senior Liberals want a legal case over NSW preselections to be heard by the high court. Photograph: Paul Braven/AAP

Scott Morrison and the New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, have urged the high court to preserve their power to handpick candidates for the federal election.

With just days before the expected start of the federal election campaign, the NSW Liberal party’s preselection saga has become a full-blown crisis, and is heading either to the high court or the NSW court of appeal for an urgent hearing.