Shadow home affairs minister Andrew Hastie has revealed he still believes he can one day lead the Liberal Party.
Mr Hastie was seen as a leading contender after the party’s wipeout at the May election left the leadership wide open.
But the MP for Canning in Perth’s affluent southern suburbs ruled himself out citing “personal reasons”, including his young children and the arduous commute from Western Australia.
Watch Sunday Agenda in full including interviews with Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke and his counterpart Andrew Hastie with a SkyNews.com.au Streaming Subscription.
He has now become a central figure in the Coalition’s push to dump its commitment to net zero by 2050, insisting on Sky News Sunday Agenda that he “wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t fight for a better deal for the Australian people”.
Asked directly by Sky News Political Editor Andrew Clennell if he aspired to take the leadership in the future, Mr Hastie said: “I’m interested in leading the Liberal Party”.
“But around May I made it very clear that my young family, my wife, comes first, and also my constituency, so I’m just doing what I can to serve my constituents here in Canning,” Mr Hastie said.
“I’m obviously enjoying this role of Home Affairs and I’ll keep doing that. That’s my job. But I’m not going to lie to you and say I don’t have any ambition to lead.
“Of course I do, but timing in politics is everything and right now, Sussan Ley is our leader and we’re doing everything we can to build a platform to win the next election.”
Mr Hastie was steadfast that he could take the mantle, dismissing concerns about experience and whether he could do the job as a WA MP.
Asked if he had what it took to lead from the west coast, he said: “I do and, Andrew, all this practice, getting up talking to you early in the morning, it’s possible.”
Sussan Ley defeated Angus Taylor in a tight leadership contest in May, but has since faced numerous internal policy fights.
Climate policy threatened to permanently split the Nationals and the Liberal Party, and now Ms Ley has been forced to deal with warring factions within her own party.
Numerous moderate Liberals have insisted the Coalition – which is conducting a review of the policy alongside a Nationals Party review – should keep net zero emissions by 2050.
But Mr Hastie has been a strong voice against the move, which could continue to plague Ms Ley’s leadership.
After being grilled on whether he was a climate sceptic, Mr Hastie said he accepted the climate was changing but questioned how Australia should respond.
“Should we transfer our heavy industry, Australian jobs offshore? Should we demand that the Australian people pay more for their power bills?” he said on Sunday.
“Should we actually orchestrate a massive transfer of wealth through our tax system, so that Australians are paying more for the power?
“I think that’s fundamentally unjust and it’s hypocritical.
“Given that we just suffered a massive loss at the election, given that were going through a process of revisiting policy, I’ve spoken my mind. But I’m probably in the minority and that’s okay.”
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