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The NSW Liberals are adding two extra women to their upper house ranks come the March election, which the premier says is a public policy win.
The party, criticised heavily for its poor track record on gender diversity by incumbent teal candidates, approved the plan of having two women run in the election in the upper house alongside Families Minister Natasha Maclaren-Jones.
Premier Dominic Perrottet, who has been a vocal advocate for boosting the number of women joining the party, said it was a win for representation.
"I welcome the decision yesterday by the Liberal party to have the upper house ticket with women on that ticket," he told reporters on Wednesday.
"That's always more encouraged in our party. I believe the more diverse our parliament is, the better decision-making is; the more diverse it is around the cabinet, the better policy outcomes we will have.
"The more talent we have, the more people we have putting their hands up to enter public life, the better."
One of the women pre-selected is Rachel Merton who is Ms Maclaren-Jones's deputy chief of staff.
The move means three long-serving Liberal MPs including Shayne Mallard, who is one of only two LGBTQI Liberal members in state parliament, will not have their names on the ballot.
Mr Perrottet did not comment on the fate of other women of multicultural backgrounds, such as Tanya Raffoul.
Ms Raffoul, who serves as outgoing Transport Minister David Elliott's chief of staff, said she was discouraged by her party colleagues from running for preselection in the March election in the seat of Parramatta.
"I have been told that it's best for me to go and settle down and have children and then think about a political career as I won't have time to do that in parliament," she told the Daily Telegraph earlier this month.
Ms Maclaren-Jones was among three female and two male Liberal Party candidates elected in 2019 to the upper house for eight years.
The inclusion of Ms Maclaren-Jones on the upcoming election's upper house ticket will create a causal vacancy, sparking another Liberal Party fight to fill her old seat.
NSW goes to the polls on Saturday March 25, 2023.
