Don’t talk about Dutton: How Andrew Hastie bucked the trend in a bad campaign

Canning MP Andrew Hastie says the centre-right of politics doesn’t know how to defend its leaders from Labor’s “Trumpian attacks”.

In his first major interview since the Liberals’ drubbing, the opposition defence spokesman’s post-mortem included criticism of his party for running a “bad” campaign and relying too heavily on ex-staffers as political talent, as well as failing to identify problems with former opposition leader Peter Dutton earlier.

Andrew Hastie and former opposition leader Peter Dutton.Credit: James Brickwood

“Nine months ago, I had polling done of my seat that showed that Peter 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,” Hastie told this masthead.

Hastie said Labor launched “under-the-radar savage personal attacks” on Dutton via social media, which he said stood in contrast to Labor’s promise in 2022 to make parliament more respectful, diverse and family friendly.

While most election commentary pointed to Trump-style policies as a major driver in the Coalition’s heavy losses, Hastie claimed it was actually Labor that deployed Trump tactics, which his party struggled to defend.

“The centre-right of politics hasn’t worked out how to defend their leaders, nor take the fight back to Labor,” he said.

“That is an urgent fix for us, or Labor will continue their Trumpian style of define-and-destroy politics.”

A redistribution saw Hastie’s seat of Canning drop to a 1.2 per cent margin, which forced the MP – who has been touted as a future Liberal leader – to sandbag his own electorate.

Hastie was one of the few metropolitan-adjacent Liberals in the country to record a swing towards him on both a primary and two-party basis, at 1.7 per cent and 4.6 per cent, respectively.

If the Liberals’ Matt Moran doesn’t win Bullwinkel, Hastie will be the only Liberal presence in metropolitan Perth after the shock loss in Moore to Labor’s Tom French – making the brand’s 2028 rebuild in Perth a difficult prospect.

The campaign

One WA Liberal strategist, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Hastie’s success came from his prolific doorknocking.

“Andrew does it consistently over the course of a parliamentary term, so he had a two-year head start on any newly endorsed candidate,” they said.

But the former SAS soldier made calculated campaign decisions to ensure those interactions with voters didn’t go south while Dutton was on the nose.

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.

Hastie’s opinion was that the moratorium on nuclear power should end, and the free market could decide whether reactors were viable in Australia – not have the government build them.

“I focused on what mattered in a bad national campaign: my local community.”

Andrew Hastie

The decision to remove Liberal branding from his shirts and billboards along the Kwinana Freeway and Forrest Highway drew interest from WA Labor MPs and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who regularly pointed out Hastie’s federal campaign absence.

Hastie’s signage included the slogan: “Putting you first.”

“Most people saw the Aussie flag in my signage. I’m all about delivering for regular Australians. I wanted them to know our country comes first,” Hastie said.

“We had some Liberal branding elsewhere, but people are rightly sceptical of the major parties.”

Hastie was only thrust into the national campaign spotlight in the final fortnight, when he announced alongside Dutton that the Coalition would increase defence funding to 3 per cent of GDP.

He conceded his presence was light nationally, but maintained he was active in Canning.

“I focused on what mattered in a bad national campaign: my local community,” he said.

“Politics is fundamentally a 24/7 contest. We are always trying to out-compete Labor. We made the contest in Canning about local representation, not the national framing that Labor wanted.

“We campaigned on leadership, competence and delivery because that’s what people expect from their elected representatives. And if you don’t bring those things, people will sack you.”

Andrew Hastie’s Nambeelup “smell forum” complete with non-Liberal signage.Credit: Facebook/Andrew Hastie

Hastie decided to talk about local issues, including the state of WA Health’s Peel Health Campus, the housing shortage and road issues.

He even hosted a forum about the smell coming from a piggery and waste disposal centre in Nambeelup, which was attended by about 500 people.

“The smell in the northern suburbs is a big issue. I couldn’t talk national policy on the doors when people were worried about the smell in their noses,” he said.

“This process will continue as I care about the welfare of my constituents. It’s simple stuff but easily forgotten in the digital age.”

The rebuild

Hastie also inserted himself into the state Liberal campaigns within his electorate.

It is a decision he said paid off, pointing to huge swings to the Liberals in his area, including new Murray-Wellington MP David Bolt, who rode an 18.9 per cent swing into WA parliament.

Hastie said this was about improving the Liberal brand in the state, which has been at rock bottom since the 2021 wipeout that resulted in just two Liberal MPs elected to the lower house.

“We can’t rely on ex-staffers as it’s such a narrow pool of people. Staffing doesn’t teach you to be bold and courageous, either.”

Andrew Hastie

“We have to rebuild the Liberal Party at the state and federal levels. Our brand is one. We got smashed in 2021 at the state level, and people saw the Liberals as the losing team,” he said.

“That’s why I worked so hard locally to win back Dawesville and Murray-Wellington, I wanted to prove that we had the will to fight.”

The future

Hastie praised Labor’s nurturing of talent and was critical of his party’s reliance on ex-staffers to run for office.

“Labor is very good at growing and holding political talent. They have many Labor people across local government, who learn the skills of public service and build local standing,” he said.

“We can’t rely on ex-staffers as it’s such a narrow pool of people. Staffing doesn’t teach you to be bold and courageous, either.

“We need regular, common-sense Australians with real-world experience in leadership and problem-solving who are rooted in their local communities.”

Hastie was considered in the running for Coalition leadership after Saturday, but did not put his name in the hat.

“I have a young family and a long commute across the country,” he said.

“My youngest daughter, Jemimah, is only three years old. My wife, Ruth, has my back and supports me in politics, as she did when I was in the SAS.

“We’re in this together and have plenty more to give. Plus, I’m only 42.”

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