Liberal party members in Tony Abbott’s home state of New South Wales have called for an investigation into the merits of a federal independent commission against corruption and have acknowledged that, without reform, Liberal candidates will lose to independents.

Liberal delegates, who hold the power to vote on policies and preselections, are meeting at the state council in western Sydney next weekend.

According to an agenda obtained by Guardian Australia, they will thrash out a number of highly contentious motions following the loss of numerous state MPs in the wake of NSW Icac investigations.

Investigations by Icac, which found disgraced Labor powerbroker Eddie Obeid guilty of corrupt conduct, have caused 12 state and federal Liberals to resign or stand aside from their positions due to their conduct, including former premier Barry O’Farrell, who brought the party to power in NSW.

Momentum for change has been building for a number of years and has intensified as a result of grassroots frustration at the use of campaign slush funds by some MPs to get around a state ban on donations from developers.

Moves to democratise the party have repeatedly stalled, and two weeks ago the former Howard government minister Jackie Kelly resigned, saying the party was in the grip of factional warlords and lobbyists. She said ordinary members had “downed tools”, refusing to work for the party only five months out from the state election.

The prime minister urged members to stay inside the party to achieve change and committed to implementing the Howard recommendations to democratise the party.

But Kelly said on Friday the party had been promising to reform for three years and nothing had happened.

“They put us off with the Reith report and then the Howard report,” she said.

The party’s Mosman branch has called on the state council to support “an investigation into the merits of establishing a federal independent commission against corruption”.

A motion put forward by former Howard minister Michael Baume of the Mittagong branch “regrets” the state executive’s decision to postpone, until after the 2015 state election, the changes recommended by former prime minister John Howard. He proposed changing the constitution to allow ordinary members to vote for their local federal and state MP.

The Baume motion “notes the political imperative, caused by the consequences for the Liberal party of the Icac enquiries, for the NSW Division to be seen by the electorate to be embracing significant reform before facing the judgement of voters in March”.

The motion also “notes the risk of current negative polling for the major parties being converted into a substantial increase in independents and others being elected in March, particularly in the legislative council, to the serious disadvantage of the Liberal party”.

The motion calls on the state executive – equivalent to the party’s board – to start a reform process immediately, given the Howard report provided an effective circuit-breaker between the Icac problems and the March election.

Soon after coming to office, Abbott banned third party lobbyists from the state executive, but it still includes a number of members who are in-house lobbyists. The president, Chris Downy, a former state MP, is the chief executive of the Australian Wagering Council, which lobbies on behalf of the online gambling industry. The party’s finance director, the former federal MP Peter McGauran, is the chief executive of the Australian Racing Board.

The state council will also debate a Mosman branch motion calling for “support for the appointment of a federal commissioner for lobbying and moves to strengthen and expand current restrictions of lobbyists federally”.

Earlier this year, assistant federal health minister Fiona Nash lost her chief of staff, the former lobbyist Alastair Furnival, who was forced to resign after it was discovered he was a shareholder in a lobbying firm owned by his wife, Tracy Cain. Her company APA acted for the snack food giant Mondelez and the Australian Beverages Council.

Liberal members are also trying to make it harder for the state executive to use “special powers” by changing the majority required on the executive from 75% to 90%.

The Windsor branch has moved to change the special powers clause, which relates to disciplining members who damage the party, cause embarrassment, reduce the prospects of success in an election or waste resources.

In an unusual move, immigration minister Scott Morrison is listed to deliver the federal address instead of the prime minister.