A brutal New South Wales Liberal Party pre-selection brawl appears set to continue, after a judge said he would not rule on a crucial court case today.
As the federal election closes in, the NSW Court of Appeal has been asked to find three important pre-selections invalid.
However Justice John Basten said the highly anticipated decision would not be made today.
The case centres on a decision made last weekend by the federal executive of the Liberal Party to appoint a committee made up of Prime Minister Scott Morrison, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and former federal Liberal Party president Chris McDiven.
The committee was formed so candidates could be selected and endorsed in several NSW seats and immediately Alex Hawke, a close ally of the PM, Sussan Ley and backbencher Trent Zimmerman had their pre-selections locked in.
The other seats still awaiting Liberal candidates are Eden-Monaro, Fowler, Grayndler, Greenway, Hughes, McMahon, Newcastle, Parramatta and Warringah.
But the clock's ticking, with that committee only in control of the NSW division until Saturday evening.
Pre-selections hanging in limbo
The ongoing case before the court means the pre-selections of Ms Ley, Mr Hawke and Mr Zimmerman are hanging in the balance.
NSW Liberal state executive member and Parramatta businessman Matthew Camenzuli has brought the case, which seeks injunctions over the three pre-selections.
He is arguing that Mr Morrison, Mr Perrottet and Ms McDiven did not have the right to take control of pre-selections from the grassroot state level.
However, the trio claim the court has no jurisdiction over the matter, nor does Mr Camenzuli have any standing to bring the action.
Mr Camenzuli's lawyer, Scott Robertson, this morning stressed the case was of national importance and needed to be resolved as a matter of urgency given the upcoming election.
The federal election is expected to be called imminently and nominations for candidates close 10 days after writs are issued.
The stoush began in February when the Supreme Court effectively ruled the Prime Minister could not intervene in the process of pre-selections in NSW — something which was essentially ignored by the committee last weekend.
Although the disunity was initially a sore point for the party, it now threatens the government's very chances of winning critical seats in NSW.
Albanese defends Labor's pick
Labor has also been criticised over its pre-selection process.
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has formally announced Andrew Charlton, a former senior economic adviser to Kevin Rudd, will run for the seat of Parramatta.
Many Labor Party members in Parramatta were put off by the party executive choice of Mr Charlton, who lives in Sydney's eastern suburbs.
Some saw the selection as a tone-deaf choice.
Defending the selection, Mr Albanese said he had been chosen unanimously by the Labor Party.
"People who meet Andrew instantly are attracted towards his qualities," Mr Albanese said.
"I've been looking for a range of candidates across a range of seats that fulfil the sort of qualities that make up a good government.
"I think Andrew will be able to not just relate to all the people of Parramatta but also be an outstanding representative for them."
Mr Charlton acknowledged the diversity in the electorate of Parramatta and said he'd been talking to voters.
"I've been talking to people right across the electorate … they want good jobs and decent wages," he said.
"I've spent my whole life as an economist trying to understand how we make a stronger economy that takes financial pressure off people, that creates more opportunity for people.
"That's the experience that I bring to this campaign."
