Tony Abbott says NSW Liberal Party is ‘letting itself down’

Tony Abbott has said the New South Wales Liberal party “is letting itself down” as he pushes to change to the way candidates are preselected and senior positions filled.

The former prime minister addressed grassroots members at a forum in Sydney this morning 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. It's just not right," he said.

"We are letting ourselves down."

Mr Abbott went on to state that the Liberal party believes in free speech, but “expels” those who discuss ideas in “the wrong way.”

"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.

Mr Abbott asserted the job of all members was to ensure the state and federal government win their next elections to avoid the “dreadful alternative.”