Tony Abbott has applauded Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull for offering "unequivocal support" for his bid to overhaul the way the NSW Liberal Party preselects its candidates.
Defying predictions of a showdown between the two men, Mr Turnbull used a speech to the Liberal Party faithful on Saturday to back his predecessor's key demand: giving every member a say in party preselections.
"As the party of freedom and of the individual, we must give every member a say," Mr Turnbull told the Party Futures Convention to cheers from the crowd.
"It is fundamental.
"It's not just politically right, it is right morally.
"We must ensure that every member of our party has a say in preselections in every measure, every step of our party's processes."
Mr Turnbull said democratic reform of the NSW Liberal Party was "long overdue" and that he had long supported giving members more power.
He rang Mr Abbott to discuss his position in a private telephone conversation last week.
Mr Turnbull did not endorse a specific model over another and said there were "important matters of detail" to be finalised.
Nevertheless, Mr Abbott leapt upon his speech and called on the party to reject "fake democracy".
"I am extremely encouraged by the Prime Minister's absolutely unequivocal support for the democratisation of our party," Mr Abbott said.
"Reform is coming and it's obviously coming with the full support of the Prime Minister and that's a wonderful thing for the party."
The so-called Warringah motion backed by Mr Abbott would introduce plebiscites whereby every local party member would get a vote in preselections. Voting is currently restricted to branch representatives and some party officials.
Party powerbrokers, including some close to Mr Turnbull, have called for strict safeguards to prevent branch stacking by the right wing of the party including a member activity test and a requirement for several years' membership.
Plebiscites would also only apply to "open" seats without a current Liberal member.
Mr Abbott said: "There is real democracy and there is fake democracy on offer tomorrow – the real democracy of the Warringah motion and the fake democracy of some of the other motions.
"If we are to be fair dinkum and a vibrant and dynamic political movement we have got to give every member a say.
"That means one member, one vote in preselections."
The Warringah motion will be voted on by the estimated 1500 party members in attendance at the conference on Sunday.
New Liberal Party president Nick Greiner told the crowd at Rosehill Racecourse the Liberal Party was being outgunned by Labor on financial resources, on-the-ground campaigning and digital technology.
"We are not, at this moment, the most modern of the major political parties," the former NSW premier said.
"We are behind in some of this. We ought to acknowledge it and we ought to fix it."
The party also needed to increase its representation of women and ethnically-diverse Australians, he said.
Mr Greiner said there had been "breakouts" of disunity in the party recently and called on Liberals to show more civility towards each other.
This story first appeared on Brisbane Times.
