The Tasmanian lost out at the weekend in preselection voting to outer ministry senate colleague Jonno Duniam and Senator Wendy Askew, who won first and second place respectively ahead of the next federal poll.

Senator Abetz concedes he faces a "huge problem" being further down the ticket, from where it is more difficult to be elected.

Speaking to Triple M on Tuesday, the 63-year-old was asked whether he thought his demotion was because of ageism and sexism.

"The thing that encouraged me immensely was there was no criticism of work ethic, energy, capacity, advocacy skills, getting things done for Tasmania (or) being a voice for reason in this silly politically correct world at the moment," he said.

"None of those things were criticised. When people want to make manoeuvres, they have to find something that you can't do anything about.

"And one thing I can't do anything about is the day I was born, nor the sex that I was given courtesy of the chromosome interaction, whatever, which caused me to be a male."

Senator Abetz, who assumed office in 1994, said it was for "other people to decide" whether the Liberal's ticket selection was based on merit.

"My argument to people would be: If you needed the best barrister in the world, or a heart surgeon, would your first question be how old is the person, or what gender is the person, or would you say are they the best of their trade?," he said.

Senator Duniam, 38, is assistant minister for forestry, fisheries and industry development, while Senator Askew, 58, is chair of the senate's community affairs legislation committee.

Senator Abetz pointed to the careers of Britain's WWII leader Winston Churchill, and Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump, who became American presidents in their 60s and 70s respectively.

"I've always been strongly of view that people should be supported on the basis of merit and merit alone," he said.

"If there are institutional barriers which block, let's say, a migrant, or a woman, or whatever, then those institutional barriers need to be removed.

"You don't overcome it by promoting individuals just because they happen to be a migrant or for some other physical, or other, characteristic which does not go to actual merit or performance."

He also suggested he was the victim of a smear campaign in northern Tasmanian newspapers that falsely suggested he was not popular.

Senator Abetz in 2018 spoke out against quotas to boost female representation in the Liberal Party, saying by looking at Labor "you can see what quotas do and it ain't a good look".

Australian Associated Press