Speaker 1: It started with a series of posts on social media
Speaker 1: nostalgic images of Australia from decades ago, accompanied by statements
Speaker 1: like we're starting to feel like strangers in our own home.
Speaker 1: WA Liberal MP Andrew Hasty's public posts about what he's
Speaker 1: calling out of control immigration, as well as housing and
Speaker 1: energy costs have now led to his resignation. And while
Speaker 1: that means he's on the backbench right now, the Conservative
Speaker 1: MP has made no secret about his ambition to lead.
Speaker 1: I'm Ruby Jones and you're listening to seven AM Today
Speaker 1: political reporter Karen Middleton on Andrew Hasty's rebellion and what
Speaker 1: it means for Susan Lee's future. It's Tuesday, October seven,
Speaker 1: So Karen late on Friday news broke that Andrew Hasty
Speaker 1: had quit the front bench. So let's begin with the
Speaker 1: reasons that he gave publicly for that decision.
Speaker 2: So we know he has concerns about the levels of
Speaker 2: immigration and Susan Leader, opposition leader, sent out what she's
Speaker 2: calling charter letters to all the members of her front bench,
Speaker 2: laying out her expectations and their responsibilities. And Andrew Hasty
Speaker 2: says that the charter letter he received indicated that he
Speaker 2: would have no role as Shadow Home Affairs Minister in
Speaker 2: setting the party's immigration policy.
Speaker 3: When it was made clear that I wouldn't have any
Speaker 3: leadership in that role, I thought it was time for
Speaker 3: me to depart because essentially I want to be able
Speaker 3: to speak about immigration, which I think is a critical
Speaker 3: issue for a lot of Australians at the moment.
Speaker 2: The immigration part of the portfolio is more specifically held
Speaker 2: by Paul Scarr, but normally ahead of the portfolio, the
Speaker 2: more senior minister would also obviously have a role in
Speaker 2: drafting policy. Said if he had no role in policy,
Speaker 2: he was effectively being noveled. He couldn't serve. He spoke
Speaker 2: to Susan Lee and he gave her his resignation.
Speaker 1: And so talk to me, Karen about what has led
Speaker 1: to this moment and some of the things that Andrew
Speaker 1: Hasty has been saying publicly in the last month or
Speaker 1: so about the direction that he thinks coalition policy should have.
Speaker 2: He has obviously been unhappy with the direction of policy
Speaker 2: in the Coalition since the election. It was interesting he
Speaker 2: was quite personally affected by the assassination of Charlie Kirk
Speaker 2: in the United States, and since then He's been speaking
Speaker 2: out a lot more directly about his views on a
Speaker 2: range of issues, particularly on energy policy and the ambition
Speaker 2: to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by twenty fifty.
Speaker 3: I think we're going to destroy our country on that
Speaker 3: current trajectory, and that's why I'm so opposed to sticking
Speaker 3: with net zero and Labour's climate targets along the way.
Speaker 3: Now your position.
Speaker 2: He doesn't like that policy and he doesn't want the
Speaker 2: coalition and to retain that policy. And we know there's
Speaker 2: a core constituency within the right of the Liberal Party
Speaker 2: and certainly within the Nationals that are.
Speaker 4: Opposed to that.
Speaker 2: So that was the issue he's been talking about most
Speaker 2: forcefully recently, and suggesting that if the party, when it
Speaker 2: finishes its review of that policy, persists with it, that
Speaker 2: he couldn't serve.
Speaker 1: Okay, and Andrew Hasty is known for being very ambitious.
Speaker 1: He has said that he wants to be the leader
Speaker 1: one day. So just tell me a bit more about
Speaker 1: him and how he's risen through the ranks.
Speaker 4: Well, he was a Special Forces soldier.
Speaker 2: He joined the Liberal Party and then entered the Parliament
Speaker 2: more than ten years ago now. He entered on a
Speaker 2: by election after the death of Don Randall, who was
Speaker 2: a member for Canning in Western Australia, and Don Randall
Speaker 2: died suddenly. Now it was interesting because he was recruited
Speaker 2: under the leadership of Tony Abbot, and you'd have to
Speaker 2: say he is an Abbot style politician.
Speaker 3: The primary acts of sacrifice at the human level in
Speaker 3: the common on Christian tradition are those of confession and forgiveness.
Speaker 3: These acts go to the heart of individual and collective accountability.
Speaker 2: And he's got similar ideas on policy and ideology to
Speaker 2: Tony Abbot. But by the time he actually won that
Speaker 2: by election, Tony Abbott had been replaced by Malcolm Turnbull,
Speaker 2: so there was already a bit of a negative frisson
Speaker 2: between Andrew Hasey and the party leadership because Malcolm Turnbull
Speaker 2: was much more moderate than Tony Abbott.
Speaker 3: We are told that there is no such thing as truth,
Speaker 3: that all opinions are equal, and that our heritage is
Speaker 3: no more unique than any other cultural achievement. I reject
Speaker 3: this culture of relativism, both on moral and intellectual grounds,
Speaker 3: for the threat opposers to our civic culture, and because
Speaker 3: it is rationally, morally and practically unsustainable.
Speaker 2: Now Andrew Hasty is held and won that seat repeatedly
Speaker 2: and increased his margin. He certainly increased his margin at
Speaker 2: the last election, which was going against the trend of
Speaker 2: the rest of the Liberal Party effectively. And he sees
Speaker 2: himself as reflects the views of his constituency. And he's young,
Speaker 2: he's outspoken, he's well read, he's thoughtful, but he's also
Speaker 2: very conservative and he has these strong ideas making him
Speaker 2: step forward and speak more loudly and put his views
Speaker 2: out there in a way that doesn't necessarily gel with
Speaker 2: the current leadership of the party. And it's going through
Speaker 2: a review process. So there are a number of people
Speaker 2: saying just just wait for the review, but he is
Speaker 2: not doing that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And speaking of that review, it's being reported that
Speaker 1: Peter Dutton has been laying a lot of the blame
Speaker 1: for that election loss at Andrew Hasty's feet.
Speaker 4: So tell me about what's being said. Yes, it's interesting.
Speaker 2: There's a report in the nine newspapers this week suggesting
Speaker 2: that Peter Dutton has really slammed Andrew Hasty and his contribution.
Speaker 2: The newspapers are quoting an anonymous source who's saying that
Speaker 2: someone who should have been a powerful voice in the media,
Speaker 2: tearing strips off labor was absent, skin to do media
Speaker 2: all lazy. Now, that is an anonymous source reporting the
Speaker 2: view of Peter Dutton. But it seems that Peter Dutton
Speaker 2: has made some quite strong criticisms of Andrew Hasty.
Speaker 4: There was a review.
Speaker 2: This report says that he was supposed to conduct into
Speaker 2: defense policy, and the allegation is that it wasn't completed,
Speaker 2: that it wasn't done in time, and there wasn't enough
Speaker 2: work for the party to bring the policy forward.
Speaker 4: Now we know that towards.
Speaker 2: The end of the election campaign, certainly there was tension
Speaker 2: between Andrew Hasty and Peter Dutton. Peter Dutton eventually went
Speaker 2: to Perth and there was a testy press conference where
Speaker 2: it was quite clear that there'd been a disagreement over
Speaker 2: defense policy. And Andrew Hasty had been sort of silent
Speaker 2: and not been doing much. And Andrew Hasty has told
Speaker 2: those newspapers that he rejects all of that, that's a
Speaker 2: false narrative.
Speaker 1: Hasty also swears that Susan Lee has his support.
Speaker 4: So should we believe that.
Speaker 2: Well, they always do have their support until they don't.
Speaker 5: Rube.
Speaker 4: That's the way it generally goes.
Speaker 2: So, I mean, I think he made a decision after
Speaker 2: the election, when the contest was opened for the leadership
Speaker 2: that he wouldn't run, and he made the point that
Speaker 2: he has a young family, but equally ambitious politicians who
Speaker 2: are looking to feature leadership want to choose their time carefully,
Speaker 2: and after an election, when your party's been absolutely wiped out,
Speaker 2: there's not a lot of takers generally for that responsibility
Speaker 2: because it's a terrible job trying to pull a party
Speaker 2: together after it's been smashed like that.
Speaker 4: But Andrew Hasty clearly.
Speaker 2: Wants to have a go, and he is positioning himself
Speaker 2: as the conservative alternative ahead of Angus Taylor.
Speaker 4: That's the objective, and we'll see how long he waits.
Speaker 1: Coming up the growing chorus of dissent coming from the backbench, Karen,
Speaker 1: How did Susan Lee respond to Hasey's decision to resign.
Speaker 2: Well, she said she was disappointed as she would have
Speaker 2: preferred that they were able to reach a compromise and
Speaker 2: he could stay.
Speaker 4: I mean, it coincided.
Speaker 2: We see revelation that some of the women who had
Speaker 2: married or been partners with ISIS fighters and had gone
Speaker 2: off to the Middle East, had come back to Australia,
Speaker 2: planned its finally recently with their children.
Speaker 4: Now that's controversial.
Speaker 2: There's been long disagreements within the political parties of what
Speaker 2: should happen with those That issue emerged as Andrew Hasty
Speaker 2: was resigning from the Home Affairs portfolio, which of course
Speaker 2: is the portfolio with this is relevant. So you know
Speaker 2: they didn't have a spokesperson, so I guess you can
Speaker 2: read her comments about disappointing in that context as well.
Speaker 1: And as you mentioned, Hassey now joins another fairly right
Speaker 1: wing Liberal figure on the backbench just sent a Nabajimba.
Speaker 1: Price was fired from cabinet just a few weeks ago.
Speaker 1: You have been covering federal politics for a very long time,
Speaker 1: so tell me, I mean, what can happen to a
Speaker 1: party when you've got high profile diskgrunt toward politicians on
Speaker 1: the back bench with time on the hands.
Speaker 4: Well, Ruby, it's never good.
Speaker 6: The Western Australian mpay the latest in a growing group
Speaker 6: of former front benches doing their bidding from the back,
Speaker 6: including Liberal senators Jane Hume, Sarah Henderson just sent a
Speaker 6: NAMP and jimper Price and MP Tony passon alongside Nationals
Speaker 6: colleagues Matt Canavan and former Deputy Prime ministers Barnaby Joyce
Speaker 6: and Michael McCormack.
Speaker 2: The thing is, you know, they all talk a lot
Speaker 2: on all sides of politics about importance of debate.
Speaker 4: On the labor side, they are are very disciplined.
Speaker 2: They don't countenance to sit and if there are front
Speaker 2: benches who descend from cabinet positions or speak out against them,
Speaker 2: their mira out of the cabinet and they would be
Speaker 2: out of the party if they can't support those positions.
Speaker 2: And the Liberal Party is always pointing to that and
Speaker 2: saying you don't tolerate a range of views. At least
Speaker 2: we're a broad church. But equally in the Liberal Party
Speaker 2: there's a fine line, or maybe it's not so fine
Speaker 2: between the airing all the range of views and allowing
Speaker 2: people to have different opinions and what looks like chaos
Speaker 2: and the old saying if you can't govern yourselves, you
Speaker 2: can't govern the country. But it just lays bare the
Speaker 2: underlying tensions in the Liberal Party that you have a
Speaker 2: conservative wing and a moderate wing and people trying to
Speaker 2: bridge those two and they didn't manage to do it
Speaker 2: successfully at the last election, and they're not doing it
Speaker 2: successfully at the moment. And they've got another two and
Speaker 2: a half years to see if they can pull it
Speaker 2: together and find a compromised position that might make them
Speaker 2: viable as an alternative government in the future.
Speaker 1: And susonly, I mean she won the leadership on a
Speaker 1: very narrow margin. It was twenty nine to twenty five.
Speaker 1: She's only been there for five months, and it doesn't
Speaker 1: really seem like her party has given her much runway
Speaker 1: to be able to steer the coalition in the direction
Speaker 1: that she wants. So how in your view is she
Speaker 1: handling that challenge well.
Speaker 2: And remember that three of those votes, at least three
Speaker 2: of those votes are no longer there. Giselle Ktirian, who
Speaker 2: was the Liberal candidate in one of those till seats in.
Speaker 4: Sydney who didn't ultimately win it. She's not there.
Speaker 2: Senator Holly Hughes and Senator Linda Reynolds both left the
Speaker 2: Senate in July, so that vote on paper at.
Speaker 4: Least is now shrunk to one.
Speaker 2: There's a suggestion that she's won a little more support
Speaker 2: by the way she's handled herself, and certainly early on
Speaker 2: asserting herself dealing with the Nationals insurrection. She has one,
Speaker 2: respect and support from colleagues. But if you look at
Speaker 2: opinion polls, and we had another news poll out this week,
Speaker 2: it's not showing there in terms of the party's vote.
Speaker 2: This is always the period, as I say, where nobody
Speaker 2: much wants the job. But that's going to change within
Speaker 2: the next year and she'll have a fight on her hands.
Speaker 1: Yeah, she's clearly in a pretty precarious position. Is they're
Speaker 1: talking camera of a leadership spill anytime soon?
Speaker 4: I don't think so, not imminently.
Speaker 2: It's funny because when a resignation like Andrew Hasti's comes along,
Speaker 2: often that does precipitate a leadership challenge. In this case,
Speaker 2: I think the resignation won't immediately precipitate a leadership challenge.
Speaker 2: But having Andrew Hasty, someone that prominent on the back
Speaker 2: bench and clearly able to speak his mind even more
Speaker 2: and clearly not inclined to support moderate positions on energy
Speaker 2: policy or immigration policy, is going to make that job
Speaker 2: even harder for Susan Lee.
Speaker 4: Well, Karen, thank you so much for your tame.
Speaker 5: Thanks Ruby.
Speaker 1: Also in the news today, a sixty year old man
Speaker 1: has been arrested after fifty to one hundred gunshots for
Speaker 1: fire indiscriminately. It passes by over a two hour period
Speaker 1: in Sydney's Inner West on Sunday night, one man aged
Speaker 1: in his fifties was shot in the neck and chest.
Speaker 1: He was taken to hospital in a critical condition and
Speaker 1: underwent emergency surgery. More than a dozen others were hospitalized.
Speaker 1: Police say they are currently probing the motive of the
Speaker 1: alleged gunman, and Australia and Papua New Guinea have signed
Speaker 1: a landmark defense agreement that would commit the two nations
Speaker 1: to defending each other in the event of a military attack.
Speaker 1: Prime Minister Anthony Albanesi and PNG Prime Minister James mara
Speaker 1: Pe signed the Pook Pook Treaty at a ceremony at
Speaker 1: Parliament House in Canberra yesterday.
Speaker 4: I'm Ruby Jones. This is seven am.
Speaker 5: Thanks for listening.