Scott Morrison says NSW preselection intervention was him standing up ‘for the women in my team’

Scott Morrison says federal intervention was necessary to save Sussan Ley (left) – ‘one of my finest cabinet ministers and one of our most successful women in parliament’. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Scott Morrison has declared he pursued contentious captain’s picks in New South Wales – sparking a destructive internal Liberal party brawl culminating in election-eve legal challenges – because he wanted to stand up “for the women in my team”.

After the NSW court of appeal on Tuesday confirmed Morrison’s preferred candidates were valid, clearing the way for the federal election to be called, Morrison told the ABC he intervened in the process because “I’m asked all the time why won’t the prime minister do more about getting good women in parliament and stand up for the women in parliament”.