Dutton: Hastie ‘went on strike’ and cost us at election

6 hours ago 4

Defeated opposition leader Peter Dutton has laid significant blame for the Coalition’s election loss at the feet of Liberal MP Andrew Hastie in explosive secret submissions to the party’s election review that accuse Hastie of going “on strike” and fumbling key policies.

After he stunned colleagues by quitting leader Sussan Ley’s frontbench on Friday, Hastie’s exit opened the door to speculation about Ley’s leadership as MPs return to Canberra on Tuesday, likely dulling the opposition’s attacks on the government on the Optus saga and the repatriation of so-called ISIS brides.

Peter Dutton and Andrew Hastie at the release of the opposition’s defence spending policy during the election campaign.

The West Australian’s social media musings on net zero by 2050 and migration have excited some colleagues but they have led others to question his strategic nous and his interest in keeping the party on the rails.

Dutton, who spent years alongside Hastie as senior leaders of the Right faction before losing his seat, was scathing about Hastie’s performance in his arguments to the Liberal Party’s election review probing the historic loss.

“It was inconceivable to Dutton and his senior colleagues that Hastie effectively went on strike during the last term,” said one source who is familiar with Dutton’s submissions, but not authorised to speak publicly.

“Someone who should have been a powerful voice in the media tearing strips off Labor was absent, scared to do media, or lazy.”

Dutton was interviewed by election reviewers Nick Minchin and Pru Goward in July as they tried to unpick the devastating loss.

Dutton put to the election probe that Hastie was tasked early in the term with doing a review into how the Defence Department spent money on procurement. The aim was that when the Coalition released its defence policy, it could pledge to upgrade military hardware with better bang for buck than Labor. Hastie did not complete the work, according to Dutton’s submissions.

The opposition’s $21 billion defence spending policy, announced late in the election campaign, was criticised for being too late and lacking in detail. Dutton’s argument to the election review was that Hastie’s lack of policy work contributed to the under-cooked announcement.

Dutton submitted that Hastie declined to joust with Labor in the media on matters related to his defence portfolio, leaving a gap in the opposition’s attack.

A second source, also unwilling to disclose details of the review publicly, confirmed the tenor of Dutton’s submissions, which were not generally focused on the performance of individual MPs but which did single out Hastie. Dutton also canvassed a range of other mistakes unrelated to Hastie.

Hastie pushed back firmly, saying he stood by his record and that it was on Dutton and his office to explain why the defence policy had been delayed.

“Only Peter Dutton and those who were in his office can explain why the defence policy was kept back until the final fortnight of the campaign,” Hastie said.

“Of course, the reason why anonymous sources are now pushing this into the media has nothing to do with the last election. It has to do with the fact that the old guard is lashing out because it is losing the fight on immigration and energy.”

Dutton was contacted for comment.

Hastie backed Dutton when Dutton challenged Malcolm Turnbull for the prime ministership in 2018, ultimately losing to Scott Morrison. But Hastie and Dutton drifted apart in the last term of government as the pair disagreed over the Ben Roberts-Smith saga and Dutton’s office viewed Hastie as a threat. Dutton’s submissions will now cast doubt over Hastie’s effectiveness and they could influence the contest between Hastie and Angus Taylor as leadership candidates from the Right.

Both this term and last, Hastie told party leaders he wanted an economic portfolio or a domestic one such as education rather than the defence and home affairs roles he held, which he believed pigeonholed him in the security space. Hastie, a former army officer, served in the SAS before entering parliament.

This masthead reported on Sunday that Hastie, a self-described leadership aspirant, had resigned as home affairs spokesman and had moved to the backbench to free himself up to pen a manifesto on the future of centre-right politics. This put MPs Julian Leeser, James McGrath and Jonno Duniam all in the mix for promotions in a looming reshuffle.

The policy failings under Dutton, which some MPs attribute to him and his office, were the catalyst for Ley’s letters of expectations to frontbenchers, sent last week and first reported by this masthead, that Hastie cited as the reason for his exit.

Hastie and his allies are not angling for an imminent leadership challenge to Ley, but frontbencher Melissa McIntosh said the party was in a “dismal state” in terms of parliamentary representation.

Hastie’s movement to the backbench has created the prospect of long-term focus on him as an alternative leader backed by a group of conservative backbenchers who do not support Ley, putting them at odds with senior Right faction figures such as James Paterson and Duniam.

“It’s really tough with developing policy again, in some respect, from the very beginning. People rejected us at the last election,” McIntosh said on Sky’s Sunday Agenda.

“Sussan has a tough job, and her team are all behind her.”

Labor seized on Hastie’s resignation. Assistant minister Julian Hill said the Coalition was “divided, dysfunctional and deluded”.

“Andrew Hastie wasn’t brave enough to run for leader, yet undermines at every turn. How long will Sussan Ley last?” he said.

McIntosh, a key supporter of Ley, said she respected Hastie’s decision. Hastie left his factional allies out of the loop last week, partly to avoid the perception that he was launching a coup.

“He’s not indicated that there’s any other intent behind it except for not being able to voice his opinions on immigration,” McIntosh said.

“I can feel that for him because I come from an outer metro seat where high immigration is putting pressure on infrastructure.”