Andrew Hastie quits Home Affairs to avoid Liberal ‘instability’, backs Sussan Ley’s leadership
Andrew Hastie says he has quit as Shadow Home Affairs spokesman in order to fight Labor on ‘out-of-control’ immigration in Australia, not because of leader Sussan Ley.
Federal Liberal MP Andrew Hastie says he will not challenge Sussan Ley for leadership of the party, declaring his exit from the frontbench was about having the freedom to express his views on immigration policy.
“I want to be able to speak about immigration, which I think is a critical issue for a lot of Australians,” Mr Hastie said, describing Labor’s immigration policy as being “out of control.”
Mr Hastie, who quit as Shadow Home Affairs spokesman on Friday night, said his objective “was not to create any sort of instability” for Ms Ley, but to shift to the backbench in an “orderly and in a respectful manner”. He told reporters on Saturday he supported the Liberal leader.
“Immigration is a core responsibility of Home Affairs, and so when it was made clear that I wouldn’t have any leadership in that role, I thought it was time for me to depart because essentially,” Mr Hastie said.
Ms Ley’s leadership was not in question, Mr Hastie said. Instead he wished to “give her the clear air” and the opportunity to “build a policy platform for the 2028 election”.
“It’s the beauty of being part of the Liberal Party, we believe in conscience and freedom and expressing your mind, unlike the Labor Party, where you get punted if you break with the party orthodoxy or position. That’s what the backbench is for,” he said.
He believed the Liberal Party had a “pathway to victory” in future elections, following what he described as a “period of renewal”.
“I think the centre right as a movement is fractured. At the moment, we’re seeing the One Nation vote increase quite significantly.
“I think one of the jobs we have to do as a Liberal Party is reconstitute that natural constituency if we’re going to win government, that’s the task going forward.”
Changes to the embattled Coalition frontbench were “normal and healthy” to determine the future of the party, Liberal MP James Paterson, who is acting as interim home affairs spokesman, said.
“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 told reporters on Saturday.
“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 denied Mr Hastie’s exit was a reflection of the instability of Ms Ley’s leadership, instead emphasising his belief that Ms Ley had the “strong and overwhelming support of the party room”.
“This is about his deeply held, sincere convictions, and he’s a person of integrity who didn’t want to stay on Sussan’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.”
However, Teal MP Zali Steggall criticised the Coalition for its apparent “dysfunction” in prioritising the party’s politics over the needs of Australians, saying that Mr Hastie was acting in his own best interests.
“What we’re seeing from the Coalition and the Liberal Party, since May, is they’ve spent pretty much the entire time talking about themselves, not talking about the Australian public or communities and what they need,” she said.
Ms Steggall further claimed “a fair bit of influence” was being exerted behind the scenes by high-profile conservatives, including her Warringah predecessor Tony Abbott.
“We know Tony Abbott is on the board of Fox News, very close to Rupert Murdoch, and very connected with (conservative lobbying group) Advance Australia,” she said.
“There is an agitation around the further conservative and far right [factions] that are pushing back against Sussan Ley, who’s trying to be more moderate for the Liberal Party.”
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.
The Australian understands that Mr Hastie – along with other opposition frontbenchers – was given a charter letter outlining Ms Ley’s expectations of him, and his portfolio responsibilities, 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.
However, Ms Ley said on Friday night Mr Hastie did not raise concerns about migration policy when he called her to resign earlier that morning.
“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,” she said in a statement.
“Mr Hastie did not raise any matters relating to policy on this call.”
“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.”
Mr Hastie’s decision to quit comes less than a month after rebel MP Jacinta Nampijinpa Price was axed from the shadow ministry in fallout over comments on Indian migration, and a failure to declare support for Ms Ley’s leadership.
The Liberal Party is still reviewing its policy platforms for the next election and has not committed to an immigration policy, besides broad remarks on the need for net migration to decrease.
