Andrew Hastie

Andrew William Hastie (born 30 September 1982) is an Australian politician and former military officer currently serving as the shadow minister for defence. He has been Member of Parliament for the Division of Canning in Western Australia, since the 2015 Canning by-election.

Hastie previously served as the Assistant Minister for Defence from 2020 to 2022 under Minister for Defence, Linda Reynolds and later Peter Dutton, in the Morrison Government. He was Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security from 2017 to 2020. Hastie was a troop commander in the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) prior to him entering politics.

Early life and education

Hastie's mother Sue was a primary school teacher for special needs children. His maternal grandmother Rose was a nurse and cared for Hastie's maternal grandfather Reginald, a war veteran. His father Peter was a church pastor in Wangaratta, Victoria; and later in the inner Sydney suburb of Ashfield, where he helped launch Australia's first Mandarin-speaking Presbyterian church.

When the family moved to the inner west of Sydney, Hastie began his primary education at Ashbury Public School. From year 5 he attended The Scots College in Sydney, completing his Higher School Certificate in 2000. Intending to become a journalist, Hastie began a Bachelor of Arts in History, Politics and Philosophy at the Kensington Campus of University of New South Wales in 2001, and also joined the University of New South Wales Regiment as a part-time reservist.

Hastie completed his second year at the Kensington Campus in 2002 before transferring to the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra in 2003. He finished his bachelor's degree in 2004 then his honours year in 2005, where his final thesis examined Charles Bean's official history of Australia in World War I. Hastie went on to officer training at Royal Military College, Duntroon in 2006, where he met his political mentor John Anderson. In 2007, Hastie completed the George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs U.S. Foreign Policy Summer Program in Washington, D.C. Hastie has also completed a Graduate Certificate in Business Economics through Harvard Extension School.

Military career

Hastie began his military career as an officer cadet in 2001. His officer training was completed at Duntroon in 2006, and was commissioned as lieutenant from December. He was posted in 2007 with the 2nd Cavalry Regiment (Australia) of the Royal Australian Armoured Corps, based in Palmerston, Northern Territory. Hastie commanded a cavalry troop in 2008, before it was deployed in Afghanistan the following year.

Hastie was deployed to Afghanistan with Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force Two where he commanded a troop of Australian Light Armoured Vehicles. The troop's armoured operations began at the start of the fighting season in May 2009, concluding in February 2010. In July 2010, Hastie was assigned to SASR Squadron 1. In May 2012, he was deployed to Port Moresby to support the Papua New Guinea Defence Force during a general election.

From February to July 2013, Hastie was deployed to Afghanistan as an SASR officer with Special Operations Task Group Rotation XIX, largely targeting Taliban forces in partnership with other Afghan forces. During a battle in Zabul, some members of Hastie's SASR troop severed the hands of deceased Taliban soldiers, ostensibly for the purposes of conducting biometric testing. Hastie afterwards ordered his unit to cease the practice, and the incident was reported to ADF command. An inquiry later found that Australian troops in Afghanistan had not been explicitly instructed about the collection of body parts for biometric testing.

Hastie was deployed in 2014 and 2015 to an intelligence role in the Middle East-based role countering ISIL as an Operations Officer for Operation Gallant Phoenix. Hastie resigned from the ADF in August 2015 after announcing his candidacy for the 2015 Canning by-election.

Political career (2015–present)

Turnbull government (2015-2018)

The seat of Canning became vacant by the death in office of the Liberal member, Don Randall, triggering the 2015 Canning by-election. Having won the Liberal Party pre-selection, Hastie launched his campaign in the electorate with support from Mathias Cormann and Julie Bishop, but was met with media criticism about the "severed hands" incident and his family's religious beliefs.

Hastie won 55.26% of votes under the two-party-preferred system, making him the 10th Federal Member for Canning, defeating Labor candidate Matt Keogh. He joined the government of Malcolm Turnbull who had himself become Prime Minister of Australia a week before the by-election. Hastie gave his first speech on 13 October 2015. Hastie stood again for the division of Canning for the 2016 Australian federal election, winning 56.79% of the votes under the Two-party-preferred vote against Labor opposition candidate Barry Winmar, moving his seat from being "marginal" to "fairly safe" according to the Australian Electoral Commission. In September 2016 Hastie was appointed to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security.

Morrison government (2018-2022)

During the August 2018 Liberal Party leadership spills, Hastie publicly supported a change in the party leadership. Scott Morrison was elected leader of the Liberal Party, becoming Prime Minister of Australia. In his electorate, Hastie supported striking Alcoa Australia workers, organised by the Australian Workers' Union. Hastie said he supported the strikers because "energy production in Australia is too expensive and it is hurting industry, workers, seniors and families." In the 2019 Australian federal election, held on 18 May, Hastie ran for re-election and won 61.55% of the two-party-preferred vote against the Australian Labor Party's candidate Mellisa Teede. Hastie spoke in 45 debates in 2019, above average according to Open Australia, mostly regarding national security matters.

Hastie has opposed dredging and the development of the Mandurah Estuary for a 300-berth marina, citing the lack of grassroots interest as well as environmental and possible geo-strategic concerns. He strongly supports the AUD22 million foreshore development project, allocating AUD7 million in federal funds, towards a new civic square, convention centre, a large-scale adventure play area and an ecotourism hub. On 22 December 2020, Morrison appointed Hastie assistant defence minister.

Opposition (2022-)

Under Dutton

The Liberal Party and Scott Morrison were defeated by the Labor Party in the 2022 federal election, relegating the party to the opposition. Hastie managed to retain his seat of Canning, winning 43.8% of first-preference votes and 53.59% of the two-party-preferred vote against Labor's Amanda Hunt. Hastie, however, saw a 7.79% swing against him at the election - making the safe Liberal seat marginal.

Under Ley

During the 2025 campaign, Hastie had made the decision to remove much of the Liberal branding from his shirts and billboards. Additionally, he was absent for much of the national campaign, secluding himself to remaining active in Canning. At the 2025 federal election, Hastie managed to avoid the national swing against the Liberals despite redistribution reducing his lead in Canning. He won 42.52% of first-preference votes and 56.55% of two-party preferred votes, a 5.35% swing against Labor's Jarrad Goold. This made him one of the few Liberals in a metropolitan-adjacent seat to record a swing in his favour and the only federal Liberal in metropolitan Perth. On May 9, Hastie gave an interview talking about the 2025 election, where he criticised the Liberal campaign and the party's reliance on ex-staffers, as well as the issue of Peter Dutton. Hastie attributed his success in Canning to avoiding discussing topics related to Dutton and nuclear energy, saying he "focused on what mattered in a bad national campaign: my local community.”

Political views

During the Morrison government, Hastie was reported to be a member of the National Right faction of the Liberal Party. He has been described as a "conservative" and campaigned against same-sex marriage, abstaining from the 2017 parliamentary vote to legalise marriage of same-sex couples (he publicly stated he would vote with his constituents and then later refused to vote on religious grounds). Hastie is a member of the Atlantic Council, an international foreign policy think tank connected to conservative politicians Mike Gallagher from the United States and Tom Tugendhat from the United Kingdom. He has cited his Christian religion as informing his views on various policies, such as individual freedoms.

Hastie believes that "freely formed associations are the basis of Australian society and are the fullest expression of self-government." Hastie has expressed concern about the freedom of Australian universities and media institutions. In May 2018, Hastie identified political donor Chau Chak Wing as an unindicted co-conspirator in an FBI bribery case involving former president of the UN general assembly, John Ashe, a move that was viewed as likely to further inflame the already strained relations between Australia and China, but which Hastie saw as "his duty." An ABC analyst noted that Chau Chak Wing was, at that time, in court proceedings against Nine media for defamation, and that Hastie acted "because he has become sincerely worried about the influence of China on Australian institutions and politics." Arguing in favour of "the sovereignty of local communities to make decisions about how they conserve and develop their environment", Hastie opposed the dredging of the Point Grey Marina but supported the investment of $3 million by the Environment Restoration Fund to protect Carnaby's black cockatoo, a native bird endemic to Southwest Australia and currently listed as endangered due to loss of habitat.

Australian sovereignty was Hastie's central concern in a column that caused a "firestorm" in Sino-Australian relations in August 2018. His concerns regarding Australia maintaining its sovereignty in the face of China's rising power in the region led him to form the Parliamentary Friends of Democracy with Labor senator Kimberley Kitching. Hastie has publicly opposed the Paris Agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and the National Energy Guarantee. He made it clear in August 2018 that he did not support the NEG as it existed at the time. He cited issues including unclear assurances of energy affordability and energy related risks to national security as his reasons for opposing the policies. In 2018, Hastie supported calls for white South African farmers to be resettled in Australia. Hastie would stage a rally with follow Liberal MP Ian Goodenough on this matter.

China

In August 2019, Hastie wrote an opinion article, "We Must See China with Clear Eyes" for ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' and ''The Age'' newspapers, where he stated that "Communist China", rather than Islamic terrorism, would be the real security concern of the 21st century. The piece was criticised by the Chinese Embassy in Australia, who denounced the remarks as reflecting a "Cold War mentality", while Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan accused Hastie of "threatening WA jobs with extreme and inflammatory language." Conversely, Hastie received praise from fellow Liberal MPs Dave Sharma and Peter Dutton, and Professor Clive Hamilton. The embassy disinvited him on a planned study trip with several colleagues to China with the China Matters think tank, stating “that at this time Mr Hastie and Senator amesPaterson are not welcome" unless they "genuinely repent and redress their mistakes."

In May 2020, Hastie was one of 20 Australian politicians to sign a letter condemning the "comprehensive assault on ong Kong'sautonomy, rule of law and fundamental freedoms", in response to a "new legal framework and enforcement mechanism". He was one of a number of backbenchers who pushed for added restrictions on foreign investment of Australian companies. Hastie argued that such purchases are part of wider political warfare conducted by the Chinese Communist Party.

On 4 June 2020, the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, Hastie joined a group of nineteen other politicians from eight countries and the European Parliament to form the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China. He was a strong supporter of the Turnbull Government's decision to prevent Huawei from providing 5G services in Australia.

Personal life

Hastie met his wife Ruth while he was undertaking a short course at George Washington University. He subsequently proposed to her on the steps of the Sydney Opera House. The two were married in 2008 at Capitol Hill Baptist Church. Their children were born in Perth in June 2015, August 2017 and November 2021. The family of five now lives in the City of Mandurah in the Peel region of Western Australia.

Hastie was described by Labor MP Brian Mitchell as "a man of deep faith". After rejecting religion in adolescence, he has been part of reformed and evangelical churches including Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington DC, St Matthew's Anglican Church in Shenton Park, Crossroads Church in Canberra (a congregation of the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches), and Mandurah Presbyterian Church in Mandurah. Hastie lists "biographies, Shakespeare, psalms" among his interests.

References

Sources

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hastie, Andrew
1982 births
Australian Army officers
Australian military personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
Australian Anglicans
Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia
Australian monarchists
Elliott School of International Affairs alumni
Living people
Members of the Australian House of Representatives
Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Canning
People educated at Scots College (Sydney)
People from Wangaratta
Royal Military College, Duntroon graduates
University of New South Wales alumni
Australian MPs 2013–2016
Australian MPs 2016–2019
Australian MPs 2019–2022
Australian MPs 2022–2025