Peter Dutton says NSW Liberal party preselection delays were ‘completely unacceptable’

The Liberal party leader, Peter Dutton, has said there must be no repetition of the preselection delays that bedevilled the NSW branch before the 2022 federal election. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Peter Dutton has warned the New South Wales Liberal party it is “completely unacceptable” to preselect candidates on the eve of an election.

The opposition leader gave that message to the NSW branch executive at a meeting on Friday evening, urging it to avoid a repeat of divisions before the 2022 poll, when nine candidates were preselected just days before the election was called.