Abbott’s right faction led the push inside the Liberal Party to have candidates chosen through plebiscites of party members rather than installed by head office and powerbrokers. The faction likes to call Warringah the “home of the democratic reform movement”.

When it seemed likely the NSW division would install disability campaigner and moderate David Brady as Warringah candidate,former Warringah FEC president Walter Villatora sent a blistering email to party officials,warning:“Warringah Liberal members will revolt and simply walk away. There will be no grassroots or donor support for an illegitimately appointed,unknown outsider. To beat the incumbent independent the party needs all the resources and support it can get.”

Abbott lost Warringah in 2019 to independent Zali Steggall. He has made few contributions to this campaign compared with former prime minister John Howard,who has appeared in several seats,or Malcolm Turnbull,whoencouraged voters to support teal independents.

After Deves’ deleted tweets about transgender and other LGBTQ issues were unearthed,Abbottbacked the embattled candidate,saying he admired her and that she was the victim of a “pile on”.

Deves had apologised for tweeting that transgender people were “surgically mutilated and sterilised” but backtracked on the apology earlier this week. She told Sky News’ Chris Kenny that mutilation was,in fact,“the correct medico-legal term”.

She said the term was used in the Crimes Act of NSW. However,that piece of legislation specifically says that “female genital mutilation” is not a crime if it is a sexual reassignment surgery performed by a doctor.

The prime minister hasdefended Deves again,saying she was raising an issue that was sensitive but important for parents,although he would not condone her phrasing.

“I’m absolutely pleased that I’ve been able to recruit and we’ve been able to appoint strong female Liberal candidates that won’t just run with the pack when it comes to issues but will stand up for what they believe in,” Morrison said on Tuesday. “That’s what being a Liberal is all about.”

Warringah FEC president Lee Furlong and the NSW Liberal Party were contacted for comment.

Deves’ candidacy has divided NSW Liberals. On Thursday,upper house member Catherine Cusack accused her male federal colleagues of manufacturing a crisis that does not exist.

“They have obviously formed a view there is a market for bigotry in the Australian electorate. That’s what disappoints me most of all,” she said.

In March,Cusack announced her intention to resign from the Liberal Party over federal flood recovery funding. She remains a member but plans to vacate her position this year when a replacement is arranged.

She addressed the upper house on Wednesday after One Nation’s Mark Latham asked Minister for Women and Deputy Nationals leader Bronnie Taylor to define a woman.

“It’s more than a little bit creepy to me that middle-aged men stand up in this chamber and start asking the Minister for Women ‘what is a woman?’ ... to trap her and generate some worrying debate,I presume,about trans people,” Cusack said.

She later told theHerald she had never heard such a question until trans participation in women’s sport was “injected as a deliberate strategy” into the election campaign.

“Nobody has raised it until Katherine Deves,” Cusack said. It was “wicked and evil” for any politician to exploit the challenges faced by children identifying as transgender,she said.

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