Two federal government ministers and a Liberal backbencher have been endorsed as candidates for the next federal election, avoiding a potentially embarrassing outcome for the prime minister.
A committee including Scott Morrison, appointed to temporarily oversee the NSW division of the party, endorsed Environment Minister Sussan Ley in Farrer, Immigration Minister Alex Hawke in Mitchell and Trent Zimmerman in North Sydney, ending a months-long impasse.
The federal executive decided to intervene in the state branch because no decisions had been made about the incumbent trio's pre-selection only months out from the election.
The three were facing local pre-selection challenges.
Liberal pre-selection across a slew of seats in NSW remains unresolved. The federal executive has also asked the NSW division to finalise candidates in other federal seats in the state by March 25.
The committee's term concluded 5pm on Tuesday.
