The first female leader of Queensland's conservative opposition has backed her party's preselection process despite being dismayed by its dumping of federal MP Jane Prentice.
Brisbane City councillor Julian Simmonds on the weekend beat Ms Prentice as the Liberal National Party's candidate for the Brisbane seat of Ryan.
The assistant minister for social services is one of the coalition's few female federal MPs.
LNP leader Deb Frecklington praised Ms Prentice as an effective MP, going on to share her concern over the party's broader lack of female representation.
But she vehemently defended the way the party preselects its candidates.
"I will defend the democratic process that is the LNP," Ms Frecklington told reporters on Monday.
"(But) as a party we do need to do better, we need to get more women to run in our elections."
The LNP preselects federal candidates through a grass-roots process that allows all branch members to vote.
Cr Simmonds' more local-oriented campaign saw him comprehensively win Saturday's ballot 256-102.
Ms Frecklington acknowledged her own efforts to mentor young women she hopes will run as candidates at the next state election in 2020.
Malcolm Turnbull's government has faced a backlash from within its own ranks, with calls for senior party figures to step in like they did for Treasurer Scott Morrison in his Sydney-based seat of Cook in 2007.
Veteran Liberal MP Warren Entsch has labelled the outcome of Ms Prentice's run as "bloody disgraceful".
"I'm appalled by the whole thing," he told reporters.
"I think the fact that we are so bereft of women representation in Queensland, to sit back and allow this, from the executive point of view ... is very, very disappointing.
"It sends a very bad message out there to other aspiring female politicians.
"And quite frankly, I think we can do better than that."
Sallyanne Atkinson, a former Brisbane Liberal Lord Mayor, said she did not believe the LNP should adopt a quota system, as previously called for, saying she had faith strong female candidates would come forward.
"I don't believe in quotas. I don't believe people should chosen to run for office just because they are women," she told the ABC.
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