Right-wing Libs rule out Ley challenge as Hastie prepares manifesto on party vision

2 days ago 5

Coalition right-wingers have ruled out a challenge to Opposition Leader Sussan Ley’s leadership this year after potential rival Andrew Hastie quit the frontbench to free himself up and pen a manifesto on his vision to regenerate conservative politics.

The self-described leadership aspirant made clear on Saturday that his shock exit from the shadow cabinet announced on Friday evening was not about tearing down Ley – a claim his confidantes privately verified.

Although Hastie said an imminent leadership push was not his intent, the Perth-based former soldier will move to the backbench to read widely, generate ideas and put together a text on his vision for the party as conservatives across the West face existential threats from populists and grapple with debates on migration and energy.

Andrew Hastie at a press conference in Kings Park, Perth, on Saturday.

“There’s no challenge to Sussan – I support Sussan,” Hastie said in Perth, arguing to give Ley “clear air” for a 2028 election he said the party could, in fact, win.

In a flurry of phone calls on Friday night, Hastie’s Right faction allies – none of whom were given a heads-up by Hastie – agreed that Ley must be given until at least next year to prove herself. Several MPs, not willing to speak publicly, confirmed the resolution.

One of Hastie’s idols, Tony Abbott, penned a book before taking over as Liberal leader in 2009. Hastie’s recent turn as a maverick on energy and migration has frustrated and confused his colleagues, who say his period of reflection on the backbench could bring coherence to his alternative vision and form the launchpad for a leadership bid before the next election if Ley failed to lift the fortunes of the party, or after the election if Ley lost.

At the heart of his resignation – the second big-name conservative departure from Ley’s ranks after Jacinta Nampijinpa Price – is Hastie’s claim that Ley sent him a letter on Tuesday, as first reported by this masthead, making clear he would not have control over immigration policy.

However, in her statement on Friday evening, Ley suggested Hastie’s claim was inaccurate and that he had never raised policy concerns. Instead, Ley claimed Hastie would not agree to shadow cabinet discipline rules after weeks of freewheeling on net zero and what he describes as mass migration.

But Hastie reiterated his justification for quitting on Saturday, while at the same time declining to explain what he would change about the party’s existing position to cut net overseas migration.

“I was the senior lead for the portfolio – 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,” Hastie told reporters.

Liberal leader Sussan Ley with WA Liberal leader Basil Zempilas during her trip to the state last week.

“It’s pretty simple, guys, that’s why I’m fronting up. There’s no challenge to Sussan. I support Sussan. Tried to do this in good faith, and here we are.”

One source who has seen the letter but was unwilling to share it with this masthead, said Ley had written that immigration spokesman Paul Scarr, who is far more pro-migration than Hastie, would “lead” the Coalition’s policy.

Some MPs interpreted this as standard language by Ley to make clear Scarr’s role. Hastie and his allies believe it undermined the former home affairs spokesman, who was the senior portfolio holder.

An MP who supports Hastie told this masthead that the detail of the letter dispute should not be given too much thought. The claim and counterclaim on the question of immigration policy control was merely a convenient off-ramp for Hastie to make a move he had decided to make weeks ago, the MP said.

Hastie, who believes centre-right politics was at an inflection point, said on Saturday his decision was also driven by his desire to spend more time with his children who are three, seven and nine.

“Every seat in this country is winnable. If you come up with a good platform, you build a big tent and you develop a vision for this country,” he said, saying teal seats could be won back.

“I think the centre-right as a movement is fractured at the moment, we’re seeing the One Nation vote increase quite significantly, and I think one of the jobs we have to do as a Liberal Party is reconstitute that natural constituency”.

Opposition frontbencher James Paterson, Hastie’s close friend, stepped in to temporarily fill Hastie’s role as home affairs spokesman. He said Hastie did the honourable thing by resigning and threw his weight behind Ley at the same time as sending his leader and colleagues a firm message.

“It is not surprising, after the largest defeat in the Liberal Party’s history ... that there is a period of debate and introspection,” he said. “But that can’t go on forever.”

“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. By that time, we’ll have to demonstrate unity and focus and discipline.”

Hastie has published a series of social media posts in the past month differentiating from Ley on policy. He said he kept conversations about his call to quit “exceptionally limited” before resigning, out of respect for Ley and possibly to not implicate his factional allies in what might have appeared to be a coup. He re-committed to the Liberal Party amid speculation about a new party forming.

“If you serve in the parliament, you’ve got to do it with conviction and integrity, and I want to speak out on issues like immigration… That’s the beauty of being a backbench member,” Hastie said.

Hastie told Ley at the start of the term he did not want the home affairs role and preferred an economics portfolio or health or education. But the home affairs job is coveted, and possible successors include James McGrath, Julian Leeser and Jonno Duniam.

Ley is also considering bringing former frontbencher Jane Hume back into the fold.

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