Gender parity dire for Lib women: Labor

Opposition and crossbench MPs say the prime minister's intervention in the preselection of a female MP falls short of addressing gender representation.

The prime minister's intervention to save a female colleague in her preselection battle has drawn the ire of the opposition who claim gender parity is far off.

Embattled Liberal MP Ann Sudmalis is set to be re-endorsed for her NSW federal seat of Gilmore after direct intervention from Malcolm Turnbull.

"The situation for women in the Liberal party is absolute dire," Labor frontbencher Clare O'Neil told reporters in Canberra on Thursday.

"As a Labor person, it's probably electorally beneficial for us to have this problem in the Liberal party but it's not good for the country."

She called on the prime minister to explain why he intervened in this preselection yet presided over "five years of Liberal women being replaced by Liberal men".

Ms Sudmalis was facing a preselection battle, which added to already intense pressure on the Liberal Party over its lack of support for women in parliament.

Coalition junior minister Jane Prentice lost a preselection battle ahead of the next federal election in her Queensland seat of Ryan earlier this month.

Women hold only five of the 24 ministerial positions in the coalition cabinet room.

But coalition backbencher Tim Wilson said the Liberals were a grassroots political movement, while throwing his support behind Ms Sudmalis.

"We want to always make sure we are reflecting the full diversity of the Australian community," he said.

"I'm a supporter of making sure we encourage more women to enter into politics but it has to come from our grassroots democratic process."

Greens MP Adam Bandt suggested senior Liberal figures had intervened in Ms Sudmalis' preselection for reasons of party image over substance.

"The Liberal party is bad for women in Australia, full stop," Mr Bandt said.

"You see it in their own internal practices. When they're forced into these rearguard actions to prop up the small number of women that they have in their party."