Andrew Hastie

Special Air Service Regiment

In 2010, Hastie moved to Perth, Western Australia, to prepare for the SAS Selection course. He began the course in July 2010, and was one of 30 who completed it out of 130 soldiers. The selection course was followed by a 18-month Reinforcement Cycle, during which a further 15 soldiers dropped out.^[2] In May 2012, he was deployed to Port Moresby to support the Papua New Guinea Defence Force during a general election.^[14][6]

From February to July 2013, Hastie served in Afghanistan as a Troop Captain with Special Operations Task Group Rotation XIX, working primarily with Afghan partner forces to target the Taliban.^[15] During a battle in Zabul, some members of Hastie's Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) troop severed the hands of deceased Taliban soldiers.^[16] He observed a severed hand and asked what was happening. Hastie afterwards ordered his unit to cease the practice, and the incident was reported to his commanding officer.^[17] During a later inquiry, a corporal gave evidence that they had severed the hands of their own accord as they didn't have time to retrieve biometric material and they needed to get back to their helicopters to leave. The inquiry found that Australian troops in Afghanistan were not explicitly instructed on whether the collection of body parts for biometric testing was acceptable.^[17]

Hastie was deployed in 2014 and 2015 to the Middle East for an intelligence role, serving as an Operations Officer for the international intelligence fusion centre based in Jordan, Operation Gallant Phoenix.^[14][18][19]

Turnbull government (2015–2018)

The seat of Canning became vacant by the death in office of the Liberal member, Don Randall, triggering the 2015 Canning by-election. Having won the Liberal Party pre-selection,^[21] Hastie campaigned with support from Mathias Cormann and Julie Bishop. During the campaign, he was met with questions from the media asking if he was a creationist like his father. Defending his father, Hastie said "I'm proud of my father's service to the community. I stand behind him. I'm not going to be drawn, like I said, on issues of theology. I'm interested in public policy. There's no religious test in this country for public office."^[22]

Hastie won 55.26% of votes under the two-party-preferred system, defeating Labor candidate Matt Keogh. He joined the government of Malcolm Turnbull, who had himself become Prime Minister of Australia a week before the by-election. Hastie gave his first speech on 13 October 2015.^[23] Hastie stood again for the Division of Canning for the 2016 Australian federal election, winning 56.79% of the votes (two-party-preferred vote count) against Labor opposition candidate Barry Winmar. This moved the seat from "safe" to "fairly safe" according to the Australian Electoral Commission.^[24] In September 2016, Hastie was appointed to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security; he then chaired this joint committee from 2017 to 2020.^[7]

Morrison government (2018–2022)

During the August 2018 Liberal Party leadership spills, Hastie publicly supported a change in the party's leadership.^[25] Scott Morrison was subsequently elected leader of the Liberal Party, thus becoming Prime Minister of Australia as leader of the majority party in the House of Representatives.^[26] In 2018, Hastie stated his support for striking Alcoa Australia workers, stating that this was because "energy production in Australia is too expensive and it is hurting industry, workers, seniors and families".^[27]

At the 2019 Australian federal election, Hastie ran for re‑election and secured 61.46% of the two-party-preferred vote against the Australian Labor Party's Mellisa Teede.^[28]

Hastie opposed dredging and the development of the Mandurah Estuary for a proposed 300‑berth marina, stating "We're up against a business taking direction from overseas without any long term interests in the safety, the security and the health of our local environment. The central question is whether or not local people have a say over the natural assets we are called to steward for future generations".^[29] He supported a $22 million foreshore development project, which received $7 million in federal funding, to deliver a new civic square, convention centre, large‑scale adventure play area, and an ecotourism hub.^[30]

On 22 December 2020, Hastie became a part of Australia's executive government when he was appointed to the outer ministry as Assistant Minister for Defence.^[7][31] As Assistant Minister for Defence, Hastie told military personnel in April 2021 that their "core business" would always be the "application of lethal violence" in defence of Australia's values and sovereignty, and that "mission clarity is vital" to their work. His message was reported to align with directives issued by then Defence Minister Peter Dutton. The message and directives came amid concerns that defence forces were too focused on social issues, with Liberal Party MP Phillip Thompson arguing "we've gone a little bit woke over the past few years, and we can't afford to be doing that" and that the military had lurched "too far to the left".^[32]

Opposition (2022–present)

The Liberal Party were defeated by the Labor Party at the 2022 federal election; the Liberal–National Coalition moving to the opposition benches. Hastie managed to retain his seat of Canning, winning 43.8% of first-preference votes and 53.59% of the two-party-preferred vote against Labor's Amanda Hunt. There was, however, a 7.79% swing against him at the election, making Canning marginal.^[33][34] He served under Opposition Leader Peter Dutton as Shadow Defence Minister and Shadow Minister for Defence Industry & Defence Personnel.^[7]

Hastie said that prior to the 2025 Australian federal election, polling in his seat showed that Dutton "was leading Anthony Albanese in personal favourability, but there was a catch: only one in four voters knew who Peter Dutton was, and that he was vulnerable to Labor defining him". He further said that during the campaign, Labor used social media to make "savage personal attacks" against Dutton, despite a previous promise to be more respectful in politics. Writing for WAtoday, Hamish Hastie^[d] wrote that "In the face of Dutton's issues and an increasingly bad campaign, Hastie jettisoned mentions of nuclear power, the Liberal leader – and the Liberal Party itself – from much of his campaigning".^[36] He also made the decision to remove much of the Liberal branding from his shirts and billboards. Hastie was not highly visible during much of the national campaign, needing to focus instead on local electioneering in his seat of Canning.^[36]

Hastie managed to avoid the worst of the large national swing against the Liberals, despite redistribution having reduced his notional lead in Canning. He won 42.52% of first-preference votes and 56.55% of two-party preferred votes, a net notional 5.35% swing against Labor's Jarrad Goold.^[37][38] The election saw heavy losses for the Liberals in metropolitan Australia. Hastie was one of few metropolitan-adjacent Liberals nationally to record a swing in his favour at the election, on both a primary and two-party basis.^[36] Following the Liberal Party's loss in the seat of Bullwinkel to Labor's Trish Cook, Hastie became the only Liberal MP representing a metropolitan Perth seat.^[36][39]

On 9 May, Hastie gave an interview talking about the 2025 election, in which he criticised the Liberal campaign and the party's reliance on ex-staffers, and also raised issues with Dutton. Hastie attributed his success in Canning, in part, to avoiding discussing topics related to Dutton and nuclear energy.^[36] During the campaign Dutton had promised to use taxpayer funds to build nuclear power plants.^[40] Hastie's opinion on nuclear energy was that the moratorium on its use in Australia should end; however, that any plants should be constructed by the private sector and not government.^[36]

In submissions to the Liberal Party's post-election review, Dutton criticised Hastie's performance as Shadow Defence Minister. According to reporting on the submissions, Dutton said Hastie had gone "on strike" and had failed to prepare a detailed costing for the Coalition's proposed increase in defence spending. Dutton stated that as consequence, the Coalition's defence policy had been released late in the campaign. Dutton also said Hastie had been reluctant to criticise the Albanese government's defence record in the media. Hastie rejected the criticism, saying that Dutton and his office were responsible for the late release of the Coalition's defence policy.^[41]

On 28 May 2025, Hastie was appointed by Sussan Ley to be Shadow Minister for Home Affairs in Ley's first shadow ministry.^[7] However, he resigned from the opposition frontbench on 3 October 2025, after less than five months into the role. His resignation followed a letter from Ley which, he said, "made it clear that [he] would not be involved in leading or developing our policy or strategy on immigration". Hastie stated that he "could not see how I could continue as the Shadow Home Affairs Minister and remain silent on immigration policy".^[42]

On 17 February 2026, after MP Angus Taylor was elected party leader in the leadership spill which deposed Ley, Hastie was reappointed to the shadow ministry, becoming Shadow Minister for Industry and Sovereign Capability. Hastie also took the position of Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the House of Representatives, a position which was re-created because newly elected Deputy Liberal Leader Jane Hume sits in the Senate (rather than the House, as had her predecessor as deputy).^[43][44] This position and promotion was seen as a prize for Hastie as a right-faction supporter of Taylor, within the previously centre-right Liberal Party, and also marks the further movement of the party under Taylor to the right.^[43]

In August 2026, Hastie, along with Aaron Violi, Jonathon Duniam,^[45] and Kate Chaney, initiated the Joint Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence,^[46] which was established on 20 August 2026.^[46][47]

China

Hastie has expressed concern about the freedom of Australian universities and media institutions.^[78] He stated in his maiden speech that "freely-formed associations are the basis of Australian society and are the fullest expression of self-government".^[79]

Hastie's concerns regarding Australia maintaining its sovereignty in the face of China's rising power in the region led him to form the Parliamentary Friends of Democracy with Labor senator Kimberley Kitching.^[80] In August 2019, he wrote an opinion article, "We Must See China with Clear Eyes" for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers, where he stated "Communist China", rather than Islamic terrorism, would be the real security concern of the 21st century. The piece was criticised by the Chinese Embassy in Australia, who denounced the remarks as reflecting a "Cold War mentality",^[4][81] while Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan accused Hastie of "threatening WA jobs with extreme and inflammatory language."^[82] Conversely, Hastie received praise from fellow Liberal MPs Dave Sharma and Peter Dutton, and Professor Clive Hamilton.^[80][83][84] The Chinese embassy disinvited him from a planned study trip with several colleagues to China with the China Matters think tank, stating: "We strongly deplore the Australian federal MP Andrew Hastie's rhetoric on 'China threat' which lays bare his Cold-War mentality and ideological bias. We urge certain Australian politicians to take off their 'coloured lens' and view China's development path in an objective and rational way. They should make efforts to promote mutual trust between China and Australia, instead of doing the opposite".^[85]

In May 2020, Hastie was one of 20 Australian politicians to sign a letter condemning the "comprehensive assault on [Hong Kong's] autonomy, rule of law and fundamental freedoms", in response to a "new legal framework and enforcement mechanism".^[86][87][88] He was one of a number of backbenchers who pushed for added restrictions on foreign investment in Australian companies.^[89] Hastie argued such purchases are part of wider political warfare conducted by the Chinese Communist Party.^[78][90]

Environment and climate change

Arguing in favour of "the sovereignty of local communities to make decisions about how they conserve and develop their environment", Hastie opposed the dredging of the Point Grey Marina but supported the investment of $3 million by the Environment Restoration Fund to protect Carnaby's black cockatoo, a native bird endemic to Southwest Australia and currently listed as endangered due to loss of habitat.^[29][91]

Hastie has been a vocal critic of Australia's net-zero emissions policy. He argues that the 2050 net-zero target is being made in "the name of climate alarmism".^[74][92] Hastie has publicly opposed the Paris Agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and the National Energy Guarantee (NEG). He made it clear in August 2018 that he did not support the NEG as it existed at the time. He cited issues including unclear assurances of energy affordability and energy related risks to national security as his reasons for opposing the policies.^[93]

In September 2025, following the release of Australia's first National Climate Risk Assessment, which highlighted severe and far-reaching social and economic consequences of climate change, Hastie threatened to resign from the Coalition frontbench if the Liberal Party committed to the net-zero emissions target.^[92]

Immigration

In 2018, Hastie supported calls for white South African farmers to be resettled in Australia.^[94][95] Hastie then headlined at a rally in 2019, along with fellow Liberal MP Ian Goodenough, in support of the farmers.^[96] Hastie has made frequent comments regarding migration to Australia, including some that have been interpreted as critical of former Liberal Party leader Sussan Ley^[97] and her leadership. In 2025, he used the phrase "strangers in our own country", popularised by conservative British politician Enoch Powell in his controversial 1968 "Rivers of Blood" speech; Hastie used the phrase as part of a claim that migration had been responsible for increasing housing prices and declining quality of life in Australia.^[98]

Christianity and marriage equality

Hastie is an Anglican.^[99] He has been described by Labor MP Brian Mitchell as "a man of deep faith".^[100] He has cited his Christian faith as informing his views on various policies, such as individual freedoms.^[101] He has said his political views are shaped by the theological concept of imago dei, the belief that human beings are created in the image of God. On the origins of the universe, Hastie said "my view is that God is the first mover".^[2]

Hastie campaigned against same-sex marriage, abstaining from the 2017 parliamentary vote to legalise marriage of same-sex couples. He had publicly stated he would vote with his constituents, but later refused to vote on religious grounds.^{[102][103][104][105]} He has stated his opposition to same-sex marriage rests on natural law reasoning rather than religious authority, arguing that marriage has historically been a union between a man and a woman ordered towards family life.^[2]