Andrew Hastie has Rockingham citizenship ceremony speech cancelled at last minute

Liberal MP Andrew Hastie has accused federal Labor of “corrupting” non-partisan citizenship ceremonies by rescinding an invitation to speak at a City of Rockingham ceremony on Monday night.

Hastie was invited to speak at the ceremony but was contacted by the city earlier that same day to tell him that the invitation had been rescinded on the basis of election caretaker provisions on the advice of a circular sent by the Department of Home Affairs.

Shadow Defence Minister Andrew Hastie at the waterfront of Mandurah,.Credit: Trevor Collens

Labor Member for Brand Madeleine King was still allowed to speak at the event, which was also attended by Hastie’s opponent Jarrad Goold.

The department denied sending a circular to the city that made any suggestion that Hastie couldn’t speak at the event.

Hastie spoke at a Shire of Murray citizenship ceremony on Tuesday and afterwards took to Facebook to accuse Labor of intervening with his Rockingham invite and “corrupting a non-partisan citizenship ceremony”.

“The Shire of Murray knows this isn’t a time for politics or harvesting votes, it’s a very special moment in people’s lives as they become Australians. That should have happened at the City of Rockingham last night, but it didn’t because Labor stepped in,” he said.

“They were worried I would talk about how important it is as a country that we move forward together under one flag and talk about Australian values.

“Instead, they wanted me off the stage out of sight because they knew an election was coming.

“My message to new voters is this: You have an opportunity on May 3 to vote out Anthony Albanese and Labor. They have corrupted a bipartisan event at the City of Rockingham, and it’s time to show them the door.”

City of Rockingham Mayor Deb Hamblin said the city was following protocols by the Department of Home Affairs.

“Andrew Hastie was not uninvited to the City of Rockingham’s citizenship ceremony on 31 March 2025. However, the offer to speak at the ceremony was withdrawn,” she said.

“As Mr Hastie is not the local member the City clarified the basis of his attendance, including that he would not be able to speak, in line with the Australian Citizenship Ceremony Code, and protocols outlined in the circular received from the Department of Home Affairs on 31 March 2025 detailing the procedures required to be followed for citizenship ceremonies during the caretaker period.”

Hamblin said King was allowed to speak at the ceremony because she was the local member of the city.

The Canning electorate does not currently overlap with the City of Rockingham but it will do after the next election where the suburb of Karnup will fall under the Canning boundary.

The Australian Citizenship Ceremonies Code does not preclude MPs from addressing citizenship ceremonies while the government is in election caretaker mode, only that unelected candidates are not to be included as part of the official party.

“The emphasis remains on elected representatives welcoming new citizens to the local community,” it says.

WAtoday understands King’s office did not contact the city or home affairs in regards to Hastie’s speech.

Her office deferred comments to the City of Rockingham.

“Madeleine King was honoured to attend and speak at the ceremony and thank the new citizens who are residents of Brand for their commitment to our country,” her office said.

WAtoday asked to see the circular sent to the City of Rockingham but was deferred to the Department of Home Affairs.

A Department of Home Affairs spokeswoman said the department played no part in inviting or liaising with elected officials.

“This was strictly a matter for council,” she said.

The spotlight has been shone on citizenship ceremonies in the lead up to the federal election with the Coalition accusing Labor of vote harvesting by ordering a blitz of ceremonies taking place across the country.

Immigration Minister Tony Burke dismissed those claims as outrageous and said the blitz was ordered to clear a backlog of citizens in waiting.