Treasurer Scott Morrison doesn't expect the prime minister to intervene after assistant minister Jane Prentice lost pre-selection for the next poll.
Assistant minister Jane Prentice on Saturday lost to her former staff member, Brisbane City councillor Julian Simmonds, as the Liberal National Party's candidate for the Brisbane seat of Ryan.
The government has been criticised for the number of women in its parliamentary ranks, but Mr Morrison said he didn't think Malcolm Turnbull would interfere.
"I couldn't see why. It is a matter for the LNP. That's how these things work," Mr Morrison told ABC television on Sunday.
"I feel for Jane, she has done a great job, particularly as assistant minister."
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten conceded he has not always seen eye-to-eye with Ms Prentice but described her as a "formidable presence".
"I think the problem here is that women politicians in the government are becoming an endangered species," he told reporters in Melbourne.
He encouraged Mr Turnbull to intervene and save Ms Prentice.
"Don't let a capable woman minister hit the fence because you're too weak."
Queensland MP, Michelle Landry, said she was "totally appalled" at Ms Prentice's dumping.
"We've hardly got any federal females in Queensland in the government and one has been pushed aside by a young male," she told the ABC.
""I've had young females in the party ring me up saying 'we're going to resign, we've had enough, and I said, 'no don't - we've got to fight this'.
