Why Is Andrew Hastie Fighting With One Nation?
Andrew Hastie has ramped up his fight with One Nation over a cartoon that called him a traitor. The Coalition now has to decide whether to fight the minor party openly.
The row was covered in a Full Story episode published on 15 September 2026. It asked whether Hastie is leading a Coalition fightback as One Nation takes Liberal votes The Guardian. Hosted by Reged Ahmad with Guardian Australia political editor Tom McIlroy, it also asked whether Hastie is building support to challenge Angus Taylor for Liberal leader. Hastie is a Liberal MP and former SAS captain.
The trigger was a One Nation cartoon video posted to social media in late July 2026. It shows Hastie as opposition leader being manipulated by Anthony Albanese to attack One Nation. It calls him a traitor over his evidence against Ben Roberts-Smith in Roberts-Smith's failed defamation trial The Guardian. Hastie said it called him a traitor eight times.
What happened next showed a split. Hastie accepted an apology from Barnaby Joyce over the video. Joyce said he did not know about the cartoon. He said taking it down was "beyond my pay grade". Pauline Hanson said she personally had not called Hastie a traitor. She refused to apologise or remove the video. On 11 September 2026 it was still pinned to the top of her X account. She told critics to "take a chill pill".
It got personal. Hastie called Hanson a "lying coward". Jacqui Lambie backed Hastie and called Hanson an "angry little woman". One Nation senator Sean Bell said the party had nothing to apologise for.
Hastie is the shadow minister for Industry and Sovereign Capability. That means he speaks for the opposition in that area. He spoke to 7.30's Sarah Ferguson on 8 July about the rise of One Nation. In January 2026 he ruled out challenging Sussan Ley for Liberal leader, saying he lacked party support ABC News. By late June he had set out his plan to fight One Nation, when ABC News called him Angus Taylor's most prominent leadership rival ABC News. Taylor was Opposition Leader in May 2026. ABC's Politics Now has since described Hastie and Taylor as shaping up as key contenders.
The broader context here is simple, like two coaches with opposite game plans. Some Liberals say take One Nation on directly to win back outer-suburban and regional voters who have parked their vote elsewhere. Others say a fight only gives One Nation more air and splits the right further. Hastie has picked the first plan. That is about how to campaign. It is also about who leads and what the Liberal Party stands for.
In my view, the Joyce apology matters more than the insults. Sorry from inside the One Nation camp, plus Hanson's refusal to move, suggests Hastie can split his target rather than unite it. That is the test for leadership watchers. Taking on Hanson fires up the voters Hastie wants. It also traps him in a fight he cannot drop if the polls do not move. Taylor's camp will know that. Hastie's camp will bet worried Liberals see doing nothing as worse.
The key question here is the one the podcast asks, and it is not settled. A fightback needs more than a feud. It needs candidates, organisation and a message that works where One Nation is taking Coalition votes. The cartoon shows Hastie will argue in public. Whether MPs follow him will be decided in the party room, where they pick the leader, not on X.
