Tony Abbott says the Liberal party is letting itself down in NSW as he pushes for changes in the way candidates are preselected and senior positions filled.
The former prime minister addressed grassroots members at a forum in Sydney on Saturday ahead of a convention in three weeks' time.
"The tragedy is that for too long the party hierarchy has expected the rank and file to turn up, to pay up, to shut up," he said.
"It's just not right. We are letting ourselves down."
The Liberal party believes in free speech, yet when someone discusses ideas in the wrong way "we expel them for god's sake," Mr Abbott said.
"This is just about the most illiberal thing any political party can do, and the Liberal Party in NSW is practising that day in and day out."
He said the job of all members was to ensure the state and federal governments win their next elections because the alternative is "dreadful".
