Andrew Hastie admits he still harbours Liberal leadership ambitions

Andrew Hastie is openly still harbouring leadership ambitions and says he’s gaining the experience needed to run a party from Western Australia.

The Canning MP considered running for the Liberal Party leadership after May’s election loss but decided it wasn’t the right time for him or his family.

In the months since, he has taken several public positions at odds with where leader Sussan Ley is trying to steer the Opposition, including calls for Australia to abandon its commitment to reaching net zero emissions by 2050, and the use of Aboriginal flags alongside the Australian flag at official events.

But Mr Hastie insists he’s focused on his role as shadow home affairs minister for now.

“I’m obviously enjoying this role of home affairs, and I’ll keep doing that. That’s my job,” he told Sky News on Sunday.

“But I’m not going to lie to you and say I don’t have any ambition to lead. Of course I do, but timing in politics is everything.

“Right now, Sussan Ley is our leader, and we’re doing everything we can to build a platform to win the next election.”

Asked whether he thought he had what it took to lead the Liberals from the west coast, Mr Hastie said he did.

“All this practice getting up, talking to you early in the morning. It’s possible,” he said in the interview that took place just after 6am AWST.

The Liberals have never had a federal leader based in WA. The closest was Billy Snedden, who grew up in WA but wasn’t successful in politics until after he moved to Melbourne.

Kim Beazley led Labor twice in Opposition and was the deputy prime minister.