Andrew Hastie quits Sussan Ley’s frontbench

Andrew Hastie has stunned colleagues and quit the Liberal frontbench on Friday after staking out his own nationalist agenda on migration, manufacturing and net zero.

Hastie, who had been the opposition’s home affairs spokesman, phoned Opposition Leader Sussan Ley to inform her on Friday. Sources said the Western Australian told her he could no longer maintain shadow cabinet solidarity.

On Instagram, Hastie claimed he had been sidelined from developing the Coalition’s policy on immigration, which this masthead’s Resolve Political Monitor has found half of voters say is too high, far more than those who believe it is at the correct level.

“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,” Hastie said.

“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.”

In a statement after touching down on the east coast from Hastie’s state of Perth, where the pair did not appear in public together, Ley contradicted Hastie, saying he raised no policy matters with her.

Instead, according to Ley, Hastie said he could not agree to shadow cabinet solidarity as outlined in letters she sent her frontbench earlier this week, as first reported by this masthead.

Ley said she had spoken to her frontbench and issued expectations to them this week, informing them they were bound by conventions of solidarity, including on public commentary and votes in parliament.

“This expectation is not new and is a fundamental feature of our Westminster system of government,” Ley said in a statement. “Compliance with this convention has always been a prerequisite for serving in both cabinet and shadow cabinet.”

“Today, 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. I thanked Mr Hastie for his service, and assured him he would continue to be a very valued part of my Coalition team.”

One Liberal source said colleagues had tried to get Hastie to hold off so that he could lead the Coalition’s response to the arrival of so-called ISIS brides on Friday.

Hastie has been telling colleagues he is not interested in an imminent leadership challenge.

However, the move adds to internal instability for Ley and allows Hastie to be even more outspoken than he has been in recent weeks as he has differentiated from Ley on net zero and immigration policy.

Hastie will now sit on the backbench with a group of outspoken MPs scorned by Ley or opposed to her on key policies, including Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, Jane Hume, Sarah Henderson, Barnaby Joyce and Michael McCormack.

Ley has the numbers in the party room and the Right is split on whether Hastie or Angus Taylor, whom Ley defeated to claim the leadership, should be the next conservative challenger.

Key right-wingers such as James Paterson and Jonathon Duniam back Ley’s leadership along with the moderates and centre-right, meaning she remains safe for now.

But with a looming debate on net zero and the second high-profile departure from her frontbench after Price was dumped weeks ago, Ley sits in a precarious position.

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