Scott Morrison has blamed conservative members of the Liberal Party for the dropping of NSW Senator Jim Molan to an almost unwinnable spot on its upcoming election ticket.
Mr Morrison has been under internal pressure to save Senator Molan from a likely election defeat by intervening in the same way that he did to guarantee the political future of conservative Sydney Liberal MP Craig Kelly.
But the prime minister said more than 500 Liberal Party members had cast votes in the preselection contest which saw the senator dumped.
"There was a whole bunch of people in the very conservative part of our party who didn't show up," Mr Morrison told Sydney's 2GB radio on Thursday.
"That's a bit strange as to why they didn't show up and vote for Jim on that particular occasion."
The prime minister pointed out he was the one who introduced Senator Molan, a former major general in the Australian Army, to the Liberal Party.
"I'm a big supporter of Jim, but I mean, he's got to be elected in accordance with the party process," he said.
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