“If you serve in the parliament, you’ve got to do it with conviction and integrity, and I want to speak out on issues like immigration because I think it’s really important … That’s the beauty of being a backbench member,” Hastie said.
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His defection is the second major change to the opposition frontbench since the May election. Less than a month ago, Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price was sacked from her role as defence industry spokesperson after failing to back Ley’s leadership and a week-long saga over comments she made about Indian migrants.
Senator James Paterson — who will step in as acting home affairs spokesperson — said the movements within his party since the election were “normal and healthy” patterns following “the worst defeat in our party’s 80 years of history”.
“There has to be a time limit to that debate so that by the time we come closer to the next election, we have resolved those internal debates and issues, and we’re presenting a united front to the Australian people and a compelling alternative,” Paterson told journalists in Melbourne on Saturday.
Paterson said Hastie had “done the honorable thing” in resigning from the frontbench, lauding his “very good friend’s” commitment to Westminster conventions and conservative party traditions.
“I would certainly prefer that we still had both Andrew Hastie and Jacinta Price on the frontbench, and it is my hope that in due course, both of them can return to the frontbench,” he said.
Opposition finance spokesman James Paterson.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“I think they’re high-quality contributors to our cause. I think we are better when we’ve got them on our team, contributing, but they’ve made a decision to make that contribution for now from the backbench, and I respect their decision to do so,” he said.
Both Paterson and Hastie repeatedly backed Ley’s leadership.
Speaking on Nine’s Today early on Saturday morning, Nationals Leader David Littleproud said he respected Hastie’s decision to resign from the opposition frontbench, describing the move as both disappointing and a principled stand in a Liberal Party that was searching for its identity.
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“Obviously, there’s a disagreement between himself and Sussan, and it took courage that if he wasn’t satisfied, that he’d step away from a position, a position that comes with influence. He’s decided to make that stand, and we respect that.
“We’re part of a coalition. We want them to be strong. It’s disappointing Andrew’s made a decision to leave the frontbench. He has a lot to offer,” Littleproud said.
In his comments about Hastie, Littleproud hearkened back to his party’s brief split from the Liberals following the 2025 election, saying: “The reality is, we made it very clear about who we are and what we are as a National Party, and we stood for that after the election, prepared to walk away from the Coalition unless they agreed to the terms on which we want to be part of that culture.
“So we know who we are. They’re going on a period of self discovery, and we hope that they can work it out and get on with the job because the Australian people expect us to be focused on them, not on ourselves,” Littleproud said.
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