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Updated July 22, 2017 17:53:07

Former prime minister Tony Abbott says there is a contest between "factionalists" and "democrats" at play in the New South Wales Liberal Party.

But Mr Abbott argued it was not a brawl involving his hard right conservative allies and the dominant moderate wing of the state Liberals, who back his successor Malcolm Turnbull.

The state branch is debating changes to the party's governance in Sydney this weekend in what has been dubbed as a potentially explosive showdown by party insiders, and as the most important meeting since the Menzies-era by conservatives.

Mr Turnbull told delegates that he supported the principle of giving members a say in preselections, which is at the heart of Mr Abbott's concerns.

"We will be reflecting the procedure that I believe every other division of the Liberal Party adopts in Australia," Mr Turnbull said.

"So it is a very good idea, it's a very good idea, but it is not a new idea."

The issue is what form of member empowerment is adopted at the conference.

Mr Abbott's motion, commonly referred to as the "Warringah motion", would allow party members to vote in preselections after two years of membership.

His proposal has been criticised by some who see it as laying the groundwork for rampant branch stacking that has been seen in the Victorian branch as a result of similar changes.

Liberal MPs Alex Hawke and Julian Leeser have put forward compromises, including requiring a person to have been a member for up to four years before being given voting rights, and passing an "activity test" by showing they have campaigned or handed out how to vote cards for the party.

They will be debated on Sunday.

Mr Abbott argued Mr Turnbull's comments show they are "on the same side".

"This is a contest between factionalists who want to keep power and democrats who want to open up our party. That is the contest," he told reporters outside the conference.

"I am very pleased that the Prime Minister and I are on the same side.

"Listen to his words today. He is an absolutely unequivocal supporter of one member, one vote."

Federal Liberal president and former New South Wales premier Nick Greiner said debate was healthy, but issued a warning.

"We have had a tradition of civility, a tradition of having robust differences in the party or in the wings and we will always have that tradition and that reality," he told delegates.

"But I do notice, it would be hard not to notice, some lack of that civility, some lack of that mutual respect.

"My plea to you tomorrow and going forward is, of course we advocate with passion, of course we argue for our views on what is best for our party or for our nation, but not to do it in our tradition of civility of respect is unfortunate."

Topics: liberals, political-parties, government-and-politics, abbott-tony, turnbull-malcolm, sydney-2000, nsw

First posted July 22, 2017 12:38:36

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Malcolm Turnbull, Tony Abbott 'on the same side' in NSW Liberals reform push - ABC Online