Anthony Albanese offers a rare show of support for Liberal rival Andrew Hastie as his feud with Pauline Hanson erupts: ‘Good on you’
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has praised Liberal frontbencher Andrew Hastie for ‘standing up’ to One Nation amid the feud between him and One Nation.
Hastie, who represents Canning, has been vocal about his opposition to Pauline Hanson’s party and that he would ‘never surrender’ to them.
‘I would rather get taken out in a box than bend the knee to One Nation,’ he told his Coalition colleagues in June.
On Thursday, there was speculation that his opposition to One Nation had cost the Liberal frontbencher support, including criticism in a column published by Nine Newspapers.
But Hastie pushed back on the rumours, telling 2GB host Luke Grant he would not be leaving the Liberals.
‘I’m not on my way out, Luke. I am here to stay, and I will recontest the next election,’ he said.
But Hastie then found an unlikely source of support in Albanese during Question Time, when the Prime Minister wished him luck.
‘There’s a lot of chatter about the member for Canning, who’s insisting he’s running again,’ Albanese said.
‘And good luck to you. And certainly, if it’s you or One Nation, I’m for this bloke. And good on you for standing up to them.’
One Nation has personally targeted Hastie – with chief strategist James Ashby announcing that the party will target his seat of Canning at the next election.
Hastie also copped criticism for testifying against Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith during his defamation case against Nine newspapers.
Threats against Hastie have prompted a security upgrade at his family home and office.
A former SAS soldier, he has also said he is receiving extra security after what he believes is a One Nation-fuelled campaign against him due to his stance on war crimes allegations involving Ben Roberts-Smith.
Hastie has also emerged as a possible successor to Angus Taylor, according to Daily Mail’s political editor Peter van Onselen.
The Coalition is wallowing in the polls, with its primary vote stalled at just 17 per cent in a Newspoll survey released on Monday.
‘Andrew Hastie delivered the Tom Hughes Oration in Sydney at the beginning of last week… It was ostensibly a speech about artificial intelligence, sovereignty and the future of Australia,’ van Onselen wrote.
‘Good on you’: Albanese commends Andrew Hastie for ‘standing up’ to One Nation
‘Whether Hastie admits it or not, it was also his first public pitch to replace Angus Taylor as Liberal leader.’
van Onselen noted Hastie, the shadow minister for industry and sovereign capability, mounted an argument about national independence, energy abundance, Australia’s strategic vulnerability and the collapse of education standards.
‘It was ambitious, had scale, and was unmistakably a new leadership manifesto,’ he wrote.
‘And it landed at a moment when the Liberal Party is desperate for someone to look like they know where the country is going and how to manage it.’