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

Tuesday 4 August 2026 

Topics: One Nation, the Coalition’s Plan  

E&OE…………………………………… 
 
PETE STEFANOVIC: Andrew, it's good to see you this morning. What's your reaction to this move on Canning? I'm sure you expected it. 
 
ANDREW HASTIE: Good morning, Peter. Yes, it's as expected. One Nation has opened branches across the country, in WA as well – to my south in Forrest, to my north in Brand, and as far north as Durack. This is not unexpected, and if this is the plan, they need a ground game. So, no surprises at all.  
 
PETE STEFANOVIC: Are you worried about it at all? I'm sure you’ve faced bigger tests in your life. 
 
ANDREW HASTIE: I'm not worried. Everyone who comes into this job has to have a sense of their political mortality, and if this is the end, this is the end. You do your best, and it's up to the Australian people. We're also a democracy, so I don't have a problem with any political party starting a branch. It's their right, and good on them is what I say.  
 
PETE STEFANOVIC: You knocked off Fernando Bove last time. He got himself a seven per cent swing. Would you expect him to be your opponent again? 
 
ANDREW HASTIE: I don't know. Fernando Bove is a good guy – I caught up for a coffee with him recently. He got about 11 per cent of the primary vote. We share our views on many things. Whoever runs for One Nation when the election is held will be a decision for One Nation. 
 
PETE STEFANOVIC: Given that you share views with him and therefore One Nation, are you at all open to any kind of official deal with One Nation or are you still firmly against it? 
 
ANDREW HASTIE: We're in coalition with the National Party. There is one formal coalition partner, and that is the National Party – it's as simple as that. Any other decision about some sort of deal will be done above me with the Leader, and I imagine the federal party. It's a good question, but at the moment I'm just focusing on delivering for my seat. 
 
PETE STEFANOVIC: Are you open to preference deals with One Nation? 
 
ANDREW HASTIE: Of course, this has always been the case. In the lead-up to an election, we look at who's running and we work out preference deals – nothing has changed there. I think the substance of your question, though, was some sort of formal coalition, which we've ruled out, and I'm ruling it out again today. We have one coalition partner, and that is the National Party. 
 
PETE STEFANOVIC: So, when you said a couple of weeks ago that you wouldn't bend the knee to One Nation, there's no way that you would do that. It feels like today you're talking about perhaps being more open to it but is that separating formal and informal parts of a potential alliance? 
 
ANDREW HASTIE: The context of my comments there, which were made in the joint party room, were about people who were hinting at a formal partnership with One Nation, which I opposed – which I still oppose because our coalition partner is the National Party. As for preferences, we're in a two-party preferred system, so preferences matter. Labor receives preferences from the Greens, and I'd hope we'd receive preferences from One Nation. It'll be done on a seat-by-seat basis. That's all good and well but in the end, I want to form government under Angus Taylor by winning on primary votes. We need to get our primary vote well into the 30s to be within striking distance. That's the objective, which is why we have a plan. We've got a plan to deliver for Australians. Lower taxes – we're going to cut all of Labor's toxic taxes and introduce the tax-back guarantee, indexing income brackets, so that people's wealth isn't eaten away by inflation. We're going to get cheaper power to Australian homes, families, businesses, and industry by getting out of Net Zero and bringing on an energy abundance. We're going to cut immigration and bring on more homes, so that Australians have a dream of home ownership. And finally, we're going to put Australians first. We've talked about this sovereign wealth fund that we're bringing on - the Future Generations Fund – which will take windfall profits and put them into a fund that will be for nation-building infrastructure, particularly in the regions, but also paying down debt. That's our plan, and in the end, that's what we want to deliver for the Australian people. 
 
PETE STEFANOVIC: So, you're coming around to the fact that your chances of getting back into government would be boosted with One Nation's help? 
 
ANDREW HASTIE: Peter, I've always enjoyed preference flows from One nation in previous elections - that's not changed. The question is, do I want to go into a formal partnership with them? And the answer to that is no. I believe in the Liberal Party, and I want to win government and have a Liberal government. That's the fundamental question here. But as for preferences, of course, and that's why I've built a good relationship with people like Fernando Bove and others, because in a two-party preferred system, you've got to work with people for their preferences. It's as simple as that.  
 
PETE STEFANOVIC: Are you worried about the conservative vote splintering in three different directions? 
 
ANDREW HASTIE: I only worry about what I can control, and I can't control how people vote. 
 
PETE STEFANOVIC: Are there any policies of One Nation's that you like? 
 
ANDREW HASTIE: I think they've identified that people are very upset about the uncontrolled and very high immigration numbers under Labor over the last four years – 1.4 million people. And they're also aggrieved by high inflation, which is eating away at Australians' wealth. They are two issues that we need to address, which is why our plan is so important. 
 
PETE STEFANOVIC: To flip the question, are there any policies of theirs so far that you don't like – go too far, perhaps? 
 
ANDREW HASTIE: I don't spend a lot of time on social media. People can make their own judgments about One Nation – and Labor, for that matter – and I think it's fair to say, by its fruit, a tree shall be known. People can make their own judgments about One Nation. But what we want to be known for is having a plan that delivers better economic outcomes for the Australian people, that protects their way of life and restores their standard of living. That's what we're focused on under Angus Taylor. 
 
PETE STEFANOVIC: What about local tracking, perhaps local data. How do you think you're progressing on the ground in Canning at the moment, Andrew? 
 
ANDREW HASTIE: Good question. I haven't done polling, and I'm just focused on delivering for my community. I've had a win – I've been campaigning for the train station at Karnup for some years now, I delivered the Lakelands train station for the people of Canning, and now Labor have been spooked out about losing the seat of Secret Harbour, and they've committed to it. So in Opposition, I don't really care who delivers infrastructure, but I've spooked Labor into delivering the Karnup train station for the people of Canning, and that's a win, as far as I'm concerned.  
 
PETE STEFANOVIC: That's Andrew Hastie joining us live this morning here on First Edition. Appreciate it, Andrew. We'll chat to you again soon. 
 
[ENDS]