James Paterson says changes ‘normal and healthy’, after Andrew Hastie quits shadow ministry
James Paterson says the move is part of a period of “debate and introspective” in determining the future of the Liberal Party.
Liberal MP James Paterson says changes to the embattled Coalition’s frontbench are “normal and healthy” following Andrew Hastie’s sensational resignation from the shadow ministry.
Mr Hastie quit Sussan Ley’s cabinet on Friday over the opposition home affairs spokesman’s concerns he is being cut out of immigration policy, in a move that threatens to undermine Ms Ley’s leadership and spark a Coalition civil war.
“It is not surprising, after the largest defeat in the Liberal Party’s history in our 80 years of history, that there is a period of debate and introspection and discussion about the future direction of the party,” Mr Paterson said on Saturday in response to Mr Hastie’s actions.
“But that can’t go on forever. That’s something that is appropriate at the start of the term. But if we’re still doing this in a year or two’s time, as we get to the back end of the term, I think that will be to our political detriment.”
Mr Paterson, who is acting as interim home affairs spokesman, denied Mr Hastie’s exit was a reflection of the instability of Ms Ley’s leadership. He said she had the “strong and overwhelming support of the party room”.
“Andrew himself made clear in his statement that he supports Susan’s leadership, and this is not about leadership.
“This is about his deeply held, sincere convictions, and he’s a person of integrity who didn’t want to stay on Susan’s front bench if he wasn’t able to support those positions, and he’s choosing the freedom of the back bench, which every Liberal is entitled to do.”
It comes after months of tensions between the Liberals’ first female leader and the former special forces captain and WA right-winger, Mr Hastie called Ms Ley on Friday morning to tell her he was resigning from the frontbench and that he could not be tied to her expectations.
Mr Hastie for weeks has been pursuing his own policy campaign that brings the party closer to the populist policies of Donald Trump and Nigel Farage, and further away from what he called the “free market fundamentalism” of the Liberal Party.
The West Australian MP has no imminent intentions to challenge for the leadership.
“The leader has made it clear that the shadow home affairs minister won’t lead the Coalition's response to immigration matters or develop the Coalition’s immigration policy,” Mr Hastie said in a statement.
“On this basis, I made the decision that I was not able to continue in this role and remain silent on immigration.
“Therefore out of respect for Sussan’s leadership, I am resigning from the frontbench.
“Sussan deserves the opportunity to lead, unencumbered by interventions from shadow cabinet colleagues, especially as the Coalition builds out a policy platform for the 2028 election.”
Ms Ley on Friday night said Mr Hastie did not raise any concerns about migration policy when he called her to resign.
She also took a veiled swipe at her intra-party rival, saying it was disappointing the Coalition lost its home affairs spokesman on the day Labor brought ISIS brides back into the country.
“Mr Hastie informed me via telephone, that he would be unable to comply with this longstanding and well-understood requirement, and on that basis he would be resigning his position as shadow minister for home affairs. Mr Hastie did not raise any matters relating to policy on this call,” she said in a statement.
“I thanked Mr Hastie for his service, and assured him he would continue to be a very valued part of my Coalition team. With news breaking today that ISIS brides have secretly returned to our shores … It is disappointing that this crucial Opposition portfolio has been left vacant today.”
Some conservatives in the Liberal Party see Mr Hastie’s resignation as a potential first step to take the leadership back from the centre-right-aligned Ms Ley and her moderate backers.
But one senior Liberal MP told The Australian this week – before Mr Hastie’s decision to quit – that if Ms Ley faced a leadership ballot in the near future, her margin would increase despite some of her key backers no longer being in the party room.
Opposition finance spokesman James Paterson will be interim home affairs spokesman for now.
The Australian understands that Mr Hastie – along with other opposition frontbenchers – was given riding instructions on what his portfolio responsibilities would be earlier this week.
Mr Hastie told Ms Ley in a resignation letter that her parameters for his work would prevent him from talking about immigration policy, despite the Department of Home Affairs being in charge of migration.
The resignation came days after Mr Hastie posted on social media his desire to make significant cuts to migration.
Appearing in a video next to an Australian-made car, Mr Hastie also declared the country desperately needed to “make things here again” and pursue an “Australia first” mentality.
A number of Liberal MPs raised significant concern with the intervention, made well before the outcome of the party’s 2025 election review, with some questioning whether there were figures outside the party room “feeding him his lines”.
Others, including Garth Hamilton, Henry Pike and recently demoted Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, swung in behind Mr Hastie and declared he was a competent leader.
Mr Hastie’s vow to quit the frontbench should the Coalition adopt a commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050 has also fanned divisions within the Liberal Party.
The WA MP’s exit comes despite Mr Hastie publicly supporting Ms Ley’s leadership, something Senator Price was unable to do last month.
Elected in 2015 at a by-election following the death of Canning MP Don Randall, Mr Hastie has been a prominent member of the Liberals’ conservative flank for many years.
Senior Liberal figures such as Jeff Kennett and Arthur Sinodinos have blasted Mr Hastie’s intervention in recent weeks, warning it was damaging for the Coalition that had already been smashed at the May 2025 election.
In response to criticism over his actions, Mr Hastie told The Australian last week that some of his colleagues were “free market fundamentalists” who had “blind faith” in their neoliberal models.
He said he didn’t “mind copping a whack over the head” from colleagues over his ideas, noting that the debate sparked by his intervention “proves that I’ve shaken them up”.
“We have a choice to make in Australia: become more dependent on China, or take control of our future by investing in our industrial base,” he said.
The division caused by Mr Hastie follows splits in the party along other lines, including net zero and concern over the hawkish language of foreign affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash on Israel earlier this year.
While many conservatives in the party are focused on ensuring they don’t lose their base – which Mr Hastie and others say is fragmenting and drifting to micro parties such as One Nation – many moderates are focused on “winning back” middle Australia.
The disagreement also comes as many of those who voted for Ms Ley in her leadership battle against Angus Taylor, have now left the party room, including Linda Reynolds, whose Senate term ended on June 30, and Gisele Kapterian, who recently accepted defeat in Bradfield.
Despite Ms Ley holding the leadership by just one vote according to the current state of the party room, a senior party source said she would survive because “people just have loyalty to the leader”.
“When the vote was last held, there was no leader, the spot was empty,” a Liberal MP said. “Now there is a leader and I think Sussan’s margin would actually increase if a vote was held today for that reason.”
Senator Price, who was demoted from the frontbench last month, said she hoped that “as a party, we can stop the infighting and support one another”.
Despite having failed to support Ms Ley’s leadership previously – the move that prompted her removal from the frontbench – Senator Price said on Friday she “supported and respected” the Liberal leader.
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