NSW Liberals should decide whether Katherine Deves is disendorsed, Marise Payne says

Senior frontbencher Marise Payne says ‘in public life, we do have to be very careful ... Most importantly, we have to exercise sensitivity and respect.’ Photograph: Stéphanie Lecocq/EPA

Senior government frontbencher Marise Payne has distanced herself from the controversial Liberal candidate for the Sydney seat of Warringah, saying it is a matter for the party organisation whether Katherine Deves is disendorsed.

The foreign minister was pointed in her remarks on the range of captain’s picks overseen by Scott Morrison in lieu of normal preselection processes in New South Wales, telling the ABC’s Insiders program: “Some of them are fabulous candidates.”