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

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".

"I stood up for the women in my team," the prime minister told the 7.30 program.

When it was pointed out to Morrison that his preferred candidates in his home state were demonstrably not all women, the prime minister said defending female candidates had been his primary motivation "and people know that".

Morrison said of the candidates selected during the federal intervention "50% were women and 50% were men".

The prime minister said his agenda was "ensuring we put the best candidates in the field to ensure that our government could put the best foot forward to ensure we continue to have a strong economy".

He decried "factional games" in the Liberal party. When it was pointed out to the prime minister he had his own allies and agendas, as everyone in professional politics does, Morrison declared he had "always stood up to the factions" - in the process accumulating enemies - because he did not allow people to "bully their way into getting the outcomes they want".