Liberal backbencher Andrew Hastie is singing from the Advance choir book. Photo Andrew Hastie Facebook.
Since quitting Sussan Ley’s frontbench, maverick Liberal MP Andrew Hastie has insisted he is not interested in mounting a challenge to the Opposition Leader.
Perhaps he should be believed because there could be something more Machiavellian at play here.
While Hastie’s links to right-wing lobby group Advance have been somewhat exposed, what is not so well-known is that the cashed-up organisation is talking behind the scenes about creating a new political party – and Hastie is listening.
And it’s not just chat. If all goes to plan, an announcement of a new party is imminent.
According to well-placed sources, a party name has been chosen and high-level meetings with donors have been held.
The focus is Team Australia and Andrew Hastie has been made an offer.
Advance significantly helped the Coalition run a highly successful “No” campaign in the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum in 2023.
Buoyed by that win, the group stepped up its culture wars influence over the Liberal and National parties for this year’s federal election.
As we know, the far-right wingers got a shellacking, and the Coalition suffered an awfully embarrassing defeat.
That hasn’t stopped Advance’s agenda by any means. It’s playing the long game.
In rare public comments, the organisation has dished up thinly veiled threats to walk away from “existing political movements”, suggesting it is ready to bankroll a new party.
And the organisation is not holding back its displeasure about the direction of the Liberal Party under Ley’s more moderate leadership.
“Advance has concluded that the Liberal Party cannot deliver what it wants,” one source told Region.
“And the difference here from other groups who have enticed MPs to break away from their parties and start new ones – usually to disappointing results – is that Advance is a serious campaign machine.
“It has lots of money and is well organised.
“In conservative politics, it is vastly easier to rally support for the right wing than it is for the moderates.
“Advance knows that and has been able to not just tap into it but also cleverly exploit it.”
Another contact told Region the group met recently with National Party donors and found a decent level of support.
“Everything Advance does is about money and about God – like all cults,” the source said.
But let’s get back to Hastie.
The Western Australian has been talking from Advance’s game card for some time now.
In this year’s election, he campaigned without Liberal Party branding on his flyers and posters and was backed by a church-based network that directly engaged with the highly organised religious element in his electorate of Canning.
Canning, by the way, has a far greater religious component to its demographic than do other Perth metropolitan electorates.
Since the election, Hastie has made several public comments revealing his dissatisfaction with the Liberal Party.
“If we don’t change, there’s no reason why we won’t disappear as a party altogether,” is one of them.
Other remarks about “going it alone” and “so be it” if he loses his frontbench position and party support due to his increasingly vocal policy statements also indicate where his intentions might be headed.
Referring to some Coalition colleagues as “muppets” and “cowards” is another clear indicator that he’s not too concerned about burning bridges – especially if it means ticking off the party’s moderates.
In this parliamentary term, Hastie has largely echoed Advance’s consistent talking points on issues such as net zero, immigration, housing, and manufacturing.
He’s talking from their play card; he’s singing from Advance’s choir book; and regularly engages Whitestone Strategic consultants, which is closely linked to Advance.
And while a handful of Coalition MPs would follow Hastie if he quits the party to lead his own (think Jacinta Nampijinpa Price), it is he who Advance wants as its public face.
“Andrew is the one they have chosen,” one source said.
Every indication suggests the now Liberal Party backbencher has been seriously considering the offer.
