Andrew William Hastie (born 30 September 1982) is an Australian politician and former military officer who has served as Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the House of Representatives and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party in the House of Representatives since 2026. He has been the member of parliament (MP) for the Western Australian division of Canning since 2015.
Hastie was born in Wangaratta, Victoria. He completed a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in History and Philosophy through the University of New South Wales (UNSW) at the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA), later completing officer training at the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in 2006. He was subsequently deployed to the war in Afghanistan and served as a troop commander in the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR). Hastie left the Australian Defence Force (ADF) in 2015, and was first elected to the House of Representatives at the 2015 Canning by-election, replacing Don Randall.
Hastie served as the Assistant Minister for Defence from 2020 to 2022, during the Morrison government. Following the 2022 election, he served as Shadow Minister for Defence, as well as Shadow Minister for Defence Industry and Defence Personnel in the Dutton shadow ministry. He was the chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security from 2017 to 2020.
Hastie was appointed Shadow Minister for Home Affairs in May 2025. He retired from the role in October 2025 after resigning from the party's frontbench over internal policy disputes. He returned to the frontbench in February 2026, serving as the Shadow Minister for Industry and Sovereign Capability. A prominent member of the National Right faction, his views have been described as right-wing populist and far-right, with strong stances against multiculturalism, immigration, abortion, LGBTQ rights, and net-zero emissions in Australia.
Early life and education Andrew William Hastie was born Wangaratta, Victoria, on 30 September 1982. His father, Peter, was a pastor in Wangaratta, and later in the inner Sydney suburb of Ashfield, where he helped launch Australia's first Mandarin-speaking Presbyterian church. His mother, Sue, was a primary school teacher for special needs children. His paternal grandfather, Flight Lieutenant Norman William Hastie, served as an officer in the Royal Australian Air Force during the Pacific War and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross after being severely wounded while covering the air-sea rescue of two downed Australian airmen. Hastie has said his grandfather's example of courage and devotion to duty was a formative influence on his own values. Growing up, Hastie was close to Rose, his maternal grandmother. Rose was a nurse, who cared for Hastie's maternal grandfather.
When Hastie's family moved to the inner west of Sydney, he began his primary education at Ashbury Public School. From five years old, he attended The Scots College in Sydney. Intending to become a journalist, Hastie began a Bachelor of Arts in history, politics, and philosophy at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in February 2001.
Following the 11 September attacks, and after finding the political left he encountered at UNSW's Kensington campus incompatible with his own views, Hastie transferred to the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra, where he earned an honours degree in history. His final thesis examined Charles Bean's Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918.
He went on to officer training at the Royal Military College, Duntroon in 2006, where he met his political mentor John Anderson. In 2007, he undertook a foreign policy course in Washington, D.C. He 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 he was commissioned as a lieutenant from December. He was posted in 2007 to the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, 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.
Special Air Service Regiment
In 2010, Hastie moved to Perth, Western Australia, to prepare for the SAS Selection course. He began the course in July 2010, and was one of 30 who completed it out of 130 soldiers. The selection course was followed by a 18-month Reinforcement Cycle, during which a further 15 soldiers dropped out. 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 served in Afghanistan as a Troop Captain with Special Operations Task Group Rotation XIX, working primarily with Afghan partner forces to target the Taliban. During a battle in Zabul, some members of Hastie's Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) troop severed the hands of deceased Taliban soldiers. He observed a severed hand and asked what was happening. Hastie afterwards ordered his unit to cease the practice, and the incident was reported to his commanding officer. During a later inquiry, a corporal gave evidence that they had severed the hands of their own accord as they didn't have time to retrieve biometric material and they needed to get back to their helicopters to leave. The inquiry found that Australian troops in Afghanistan were not explicitly instructed on whether the collection of body parts for biometric testing was acceptable.
Hastie was deployed in 2014 and 2015 to the Middle East for an intelligence role, serving as an Operations Officer for the international intelligence fusion centre based in Jordan, Operation Gallant Phoenix.
Political career Hastie joined the Liberal Party in 2013. In an interview with the Herald Sun, he said "I was always interested in politics as a vocation after the Army; it was always just a question of when." He resigned from the ADF in August 2015 after announcing his candidacy for the 2015 Canning by-election.
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 campaigned with support from Mathias Cormann and Julie Bishop. During the campaign, he was met with questions from the media asking if he was a creationist like his father. Defending his father, Hastie said "I'm proud of my father's service to the community. I stand behind him. I'm not going to be drawn, like I said, on issues of theology. I'm interested in public policy. There's no religious test in this country for public office."
Hastie won 55.26% of votes under the two-party-preferred system, 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 (two-party-preferred vote count) against Labor opposition candidate Barry Winmar. This moved the seat from "safe" to "fairly safe" according to the Australian Electoral Commission. In September 2016, Hastie was appointed to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security; he then chaired this joint committee from 2017 to 2020.
Morrison government (2018–2022)
During the August 2018 Liberal Party leadership spills, Hastie publicly supported a change in the party's leadership. Scott Morrison was subsequently elected leader of the Liberal Party, thus becoming Prime Minister of Australia as leader of the majority party in the House of Representatives. In 2018, Hastie stated his support for striking Alcoa Australia workers, stating that this was because "energy production in Australia is too expensive and it is hurting industry, workers, seniors and families".
At the 2019 Australian federal election, Hastie ran for re‑election and secured 61.46% of the two-party-preferred vote against the Australian Labor Party's Mellisa Teede.
Hastie opposed dredging and the development of the Mandurah Estuary for a proposed 300‑berth marina, stating "We're up against a business taking direction from overseas without any long term interests in the safety, the security and the health of our local environment. The central question is whether or not local people have a say over the natural assets we are called to steward for future generations". He supported a $22 million foreshore development project, which received $7 million in federal funding, to deliver a new civic square, convention centre, large‑scale adventure play area, and an ecotourism hub.
On 22 December 2020, Hastie became a part of Australia's executive government when he was appointed to the outer ministry as Assistant Minister for Defence. As Assistant Minister for Defence, Hastie told military personnel in April 2021 that their "core business" would always be the "application of lethal violence" in defence of Australia's values and sovereignty, and that "mission clarity is vital" to their work. His message was reported to align with directives issued by then Defence Minister Peter Dutton. The message and directives came amid concerns that defence forces were too focused on social issues, with Liberal Party MP Phillip Thompson arguing "we've gone a little bit woke over the past few years, and we can't afford to be doing that" and that the military had lurched "too far to the left".
Opposition (2022–present)
The Liberal Party were defeated by the Labor Party at the 2022 federal election; the Liberal–National Coalition moving to the opposition benches. 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. There was, however, a 7.79% swing against him at the election, making Canning marginal. He served under Opposition Leader Peter Dutton as Shadow Defence Minister and Shadow Minister for Defence Industry & Defence Personnel.
Hastie said that prior to the 2025 Australian federal election, polling in his seat showed that Dutton "was leading Anthony Albanese in personal favourability, but there was a catch: only one in four voters knew who Peter Dutton was, and that he was vulnerable to Labor defining him". He further said that during the campaign, Labor used social media to make "savage personal attacks" against Dutton, despite a previous promise to be more respectful in politics. Writing for WAtoday, Hamish Hastie wrote that "In the face of Dutton's issues and an increasingly bad campaign, Hastie jettisoned mentions of nuclear power, the Liberal leader – and the Liberal Party itself – from much of his campaigning". He also made the decision to remove much of the Liberal branding from his shirts and billboards. Hastie was not highly visible during much of the national campaign, needing to focus instead on local electioneering in his seat of Canning.
Hastie managed to avoid the worst of the large national swing against the Liberals, despite redistribution having reduced his notional lead in Canning. He won 42.52% of first-preference votes and 56.55% of two-party preferred votes, a net notional 5.35% swing against Labor's Jarrad Goold. The election saw heavy losses for the Liberals in metropolitan Australia. Hastie was one of few metropolitan-adjacent Liberals nationally to record a swing in his favour at the election, on both a primary and two-party basis. Following the Liberal Party's loss in the seat of Bullwinkel to Labor's Trish Cook, Hastie became the only Liberal MP representing a metropolitan Perth seat.