THE HON ANDREW HASTIE MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY AND SOVEREIGN CAPABILITY
FEDERAL MEMBER FOR CANNING

TRANSCRIPT
INTERVIEW WITH SALLY SARA, ABC RN BREAKFAST

Wednesday 19 August 2026

Topics: Gambling reforms; NDIS; cap on allied health for veterans; One Nation; Coalition policies.

E&OE……………………………………

SALLY SARA: Andrew Hastie, thanks for joining me again i the studio.

ANDREW HASTIE: Good morning. Good to be with you, Sally.

SALLY SARA: In June, you signed a letter, alongside a number of Coalition MPs and former Prime Minister John Howard, urging the Prime Minister to strengthen the government's proposed gambling law reforms, including consideration of a national regulator. The Coalition has agreed to pass the government's Bill with some amendments. Are you disappointed that a national regulator isn't there?

ANDREW HASTIE: I think we've landed in the right spot. Politics is the art of the possible, and we wanted to improve the government's Bill. We've done a lot of work. Angus Taylor, Sarah Henderson, and other members like Simon Kennedy, have really advocated strongly for reforms and amendments to the Bill, and I think we've struck the right balance. There's always more you can do, but in the end, we're trying to work in the interests of the Australian people, and we've made some good progress.

SALLY SARA: Your Coalition colleague, Andrew Wallace, has described parts of these new proposed laws as like putting Dracula in charge of the blood bank, particularly with gambling companies identifying at-risk gamblers. What do you think of that comment?

ANDREW HASTIE: Andrew is entitled to his point of view. He obviously holds strong views -I respect them, and I respect his decision to vote the way he did yesterday.

SALLY SARA: On the NDIS, the Coalition has also negotiated amendments in return for supporting the government's sweeping changes to the National Disability Insurance Scheme and on the so-called widows' tax. Do you think cooperation between the major parties is a good thing, or does the Coalition need to carve out sharper differences with Labor at a time when One Nation is rising?

ANDREW HASTIE: The NDIS is a system that needs fixing, and the government has identified savings of up to $38 billion over the forward estimates. We think it's a really important thing to do because under Labor, the NDIS has blown out. There's a lot of waste and fraud, and we believe that the NDIS should be sustainable, that it should be affordable, and it should be targeted so that people in the greatest need are served by it. That's why we've supported the government with their amendments, particularly focusing on some of the fraudulent behaviour. But this is the thing with opposition – we're not the party who says no to everything. We want to work constructively in the national interest, and on this reform, I think it was the right thing to do.

SALLY SARA: You're listening to Radio National Breakfast. My guest is the Shadow Minister for Industry and Sovereign Capability, Andrew Hastie. On a couple of other issues, the Veterans Affairs Minister Matt Keogh was pushed in Question Time yesterday over the way he handled meetings with a group of veterans. In your view, does he have any further questions to answer about that?

ANDREW HASTIE: I think the allied health cap of $5,000 per person is in breach of the Veterans Covenant. It was not a recommendation of the Royal Commission. I think it's really important that we do look after our veterans. We had a group of veterans come to Parliament to advocate on this very issue and I think it was an oversight of Minister Keogh not to meet with them. We used Question Time to elevate that, and he has met with them. But we certainly think the government needs to change their position on this.

SALLY SARA: How important is it to get that right?

ANDREW HASTIE: It's really important. I mentioned the Covenant with our veterans. The Covenant is that the Australian people look after our veterans after they've served our country, and I think this allied health cap is a signal to them that we're not taking it as seriously as we should. That's a problem for Matt Keough, and he needs to explain the position more clearly.

SALLY SARA: Let's talk about One Nation, particularly in Western Australia. Are you feeling the pressure from that party at the moment?

ANDREW HASTIE: I love pressure, Sally. I wouldn't be in this job if I didn't. I also love a fight. I know people like James Ashby are coming for me – he's got his orders from above. I'm going to hold my seat because I believe I'm the best person to deliver for the people of Canning as I have over the last 11 years. Will it be a tough fight? Absolutely. Is it dirty and nasty? Yes, it is.

SALLY SARA: In what way is it dirty and nasty?

ANDREW HASTIE: The way things have been done online over the last couple of months - I think it's pretty obvious that –

SALLY SARA: - Have you had concerns for your safety during some of that?

ANDREW HASTIE: I've had some pretty strong messages sent to me, to my staff, and so on. That's why I've been identified for upgrades for security for my family home and my office. That's not going to deter me. I believe that I am the best representative for Canning. I love my community, I live there, and I've got plenty of work to do in the Parliament.

SALLY SARA: So you were talking a few minutes ago about the Coalition being constructive. What kind of line do you walk here between being constructive but also pushing back against parties like One Nation?

ANDREW HASTIE: Well, I think we've got to focus on who we are as Liberals, and this is what we're doing. We've got a plan. We're talking about it - it's lower taxes, cheaper power, its cutting migration, building more homes, and putting Australians first. We've got a sovereign wealth fund that we're going to set up using windfall profits from the resources sector and put that towards nation building infrastructure. We have a plan, and we're going to keep talking about that plan. We're not going to be distracted by One Nation or Labor. We're going to talk about who we are, what we believe, and what our plan is to make Australia more secure and prosperous.

SALLY SARA: Does that place any pressure on the coalition to release policies sooner than the cusp of the election given that One Nation is talking about all sorts of issues from one day to the next at the moment?

ANDREW HASTIE: Well, it's not a thought bubble race on X with Pauline Hanson. We want to make sure that our policies are costed and modelled and are responsible. It's very easy to get a sugar hit in the headlines, but we're doing the hard work. On the question of tobacco, for example, Mary Aldred, the Member for Monash, and Senator Richard Colbeck have done some excellent work on –

SALLY SARA: But One Nation were ahead of them, out public with that.

ANDREW HASTIE: Sure, they put a post out on X, and they got the headlines. But in June, Pauline Hanson was saying that she was going to cut tobacco excise by 50 per cent. Yesterday, two months later, it was 75 per cent. Where's the work? Where's the modelling? When it comes to tobacco, we believe that it's a two-pronged approach – it's a law and order issue. We're either going to have a tobacco industry governed by the rule of law, or we're going to have a tobacco industry run by criminal gangs. We believe it should be governed by the rule of law. And then when you look at the economics of it, we believe the excise is too high. Economics is about trade-offs. We want to get it to a point where tobacco products are affordable for regular Australians and kill the incentive to go to the black market.

SALLY SARA: So, if I'm understanding you clearly, you're talking more about having modelled, thought through, considered policies rather than a thought bubble race. Is that where you're coming from?

ANDREW HASTIE: Yes, it's not a thought bubble race on X. Anyone can post on X, but you actually have to do the work behind the policy. You've got to model the policy, you've got to cost the policy, and you've got to then sell the policy. We're in the winter now, and we're working hard on a whole range of policies, and that'll be part of our plan that we put to the people at the next election.

SALLY SARA: So, what did you make then of your shadow frontbench colleague, Andrew Bragg, last week making a wide-ranging speech? Were they costed and modelled policies, or were they thought bubbles or thought bubble adjacent?

ANDREW HASTIE: Andrew Bragg said what he said last week. We dealt with it last week. I had a chat to Andrew on Thursday night; there's no issue there. We're moving on.

SALLY SARA: Is that the way to go about it?

ANDREW HASTIE: Well, Andrew said some good stuff in that speech. But yes, we are focused on working together as a team and being deliberate in our policy release.

SALLY SARA: What did you say to him? Did you ask him not to do that again?

ANDREW HASTIE: We're friends, we had a good old chat. He got plenty of feedback in the media. I'm not someone who briefs against people. We had a frank and open chat –

SALLY SARA: Was it a mistake – to be so wide ranging – for Andrew Bragg?

ANDREW HASTIE: That's a question for Andrew.

SALLY SARA: What do you think?

ANDREW HASTIE: Well, it was last week. I mean, we're Wednesday of the second sitting week. I went home for the weekend very briefly – I'm trying to remember what I did. Things move pretty quickly in politics.

SALLY SARA: Andrew Hastie, thanks so much for coming into the studio this morning.

ANDREW HASTIE: Thanks, Sally.

[ENDS]