Canberra must respond to Australians’ concerns and “fix the system” or watch “people like Pauline Hanson” tear it down amid collapsing global norms, senior Liberal MP Andrew Hastie says.
Mr Hastie, widely viewed as a future Liberal Party leader, returned to the opposition frontbench in February as part of Angus Taylor’s shadow cabinet.
His new industry portfolio has put the special forces veteran on the front lines of issues driving discontent, from calls for wholesale tax reform to safeguarding key industries vital to Australia’s sovereignty.
He said on Sunday major reforms were needed, including a possible windfall tax on gas exporters benefiting from soaring gas prices.
“I think multinationals and big business in this country have lost their social licence,” Mr Hastie told ABC’s Insiders.
“They’ve made no effort to recover it and a lot of Australians feel like the system is rigged against them.”
He added that it was part of broader disenfranchisement in which Australians “don’t see reward for their efforts”, including as younger generations try securing a foothold on the property ladder.
Noting the Coalition was “smashed” at the 2022 and 2025 federal elections, Mr Hastie warned its “primary vote is being cannibalised from both the right and the left” and that “being open-minded is important”.
“I think the bigger geopolitical frame here and the macro-economic frame here is that we’re about to potentially slide into a recession,” he said.
“One of the things we’ve got going for us is our abundance of gas.
“Is introducing a new tax right at this time going to help our situation?
“Before February 28, this conversation looked very different. We are in a different period now.”
‘The world order has collapsed’
He said the conversation “looked very different” before the joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran late last month.
Asked if he was also open to negative gearing and capital gains tax reform, Mr Hastie would not say.
“This is a new era. The world order has collapsed in the last couple of years. We’re experiencing a lot of economic pain. Inflation is very sticky,” he said.
“I’ve mentioned all the factors that people feel and live every day.
“I just think we need to overhaul the whole system. So we either fix the system or it’s torn down by people like Pauline Hanson.”
He went on to say there was no point being constrained by ideology while searching for solutions.
“I actually want to win and deliver a centre-right government for this country, and the best way to beat Labor is to start listening to people and meeting … their concerns head on, rather than reactively slapping them down,” he said.
“My working assumption now is that One Nation wants to supplant us as the major party on the centre-right.
“They are doing everything they can to destroy our credibility.
“And having said that … a lot of people who’ve parked their vote with One Nation now have very legitimate concerns around energy, around immigration, around housing, around … a rigged economic system, and we need to be responsive and respectful to those people.
“But let’s not pretend that One Nation are out to form a coalition or work with us.”
The comments came as One Nation looked likely to take up to four traditionally safe Liberal seats in South Australia.
Polls heading into last week’s state election predicted One Nation would score big at the ballot box, with a Newspoll suggesting the party’s surge paired with Labor’s gains could wipe out the Liberals.
As of Sunday morning, the Liberal Party was set to hang on to its status as opposition by one seat.
The vote has broadly been seen as a test of One Nation’s ability to turn its poll power into votes, with analysts saying the outcome should serve as an indicator to future state and federal contests.
One Nation will have a chance to prove itself at the federal level in the upcoming Farrer by-election scheduled for May 9.
It has also promised a big showing at the Victorian state election at the end of the year.
