The Liberal Party has been warned to put aside its "lazy and self-indulgent" internal conflicts and start fighting for the "soul of the nation", as it gears up for a federal election in less than 12 months' time.

The party's federal director Nick Greiner has laid out the challenges facing the Government in stark terms — including its lack of diversity and campaign firepower — while issuing a rallying cry to Liberal supporters.

Addressing the party's annual general meeting, Mr Greiner said the next election would be a "generational conflict about the values and hopes for the future", and the Liberals needed to remind voters of the clear divide between the two major parties.

"If any politician says he's got a magic pudding, that you can have your cake and eat it too, Australians shouldn't believe them," he said.

"If a politician has a proven track record of lying, in fact pathological lying, Australians won't believe him as it's pigs may fly sort of stuff."

The thinly veiled reference to the Opposition Leader suggests the Coalition still sees Bill Shorten as its best line of attack.

While opinion polls have consistently suggested Malcolm Turnbull is the preferred prime minister, the Coalition has not been able to translate that into an election-winning lead for almost two years.

Mr Greiner acknowledged it would be challenging to win a third term and implored the party to unite behind Mr Turnbull.

"We have occasionally been a bit lazy and self-indulgent when we give our own internal tiffs and arguments priority over the wellbeing of the party," he said.

"I hear people say 'we have to fight for the souls of our party' — well I've got news for you, we have to fight for the soul of the nation."

'This is not some philosophical bunfight'

But as it prepares to fight three federal by-elections, followed by a general election, Mr Greiner conceded the party was well behind its opponents when it came to financial support.

He also gave a candid assessment of the Liberals' "woman problem", conceding the party was not doing well enough when it came to diversity.

"This is not some philosophical bunfight," he told the conference.

"We are always aware of merit … but merit means having the better parliamentary team.

"It is very hard to have the better parliamentary team if our team doesn't reflect the community it hopes to serve."

The dearth of women in Liberal Party ranks is a sensitive issue.

One of the party's few women, Jane Prentice, was recently dumped from preselection in her Queensland seat and the Prime Minister has been forced to intervene to shore up support for Ann Sudmalis in New South Wales.

Ms Sudmalis is facing a challenge from local real estate agent Grant Schultz but the ABC understands she has the numbers to secure preselection.

Sorry, this video has expired Fact check: Is the level of Liberal women in Parliament lower now than it was in 1996?

Beyond the set-piece speeches, the federal council also gives some insight into the issues occupying the minds of Liberal Party members in each state.

This afternoon, the council agreed to a motion put forward by the West Australian division calling on the Government to give South African "minorities" asylum.

While non-binding, the motion will likely be seized upon by Coalition MPs who have been lobbying the Government to bring "persecuted white South African farmers" to Australia.

More than 20 motions are up for debate at the conference including calls to privatise the ABC, relocate Australia's embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and abstain from military intervention in Syria.

Unlike the Labor conference held every three years, these debates have no direct impact on the Liberal Party's policies.