Andrew Hastie is emerging as a central figure in a rapidly intensifying leadership struggle inside the Liberal Party, with senior sources confirming the West Australian MP is quietly building numbers to challenge Opposition Leader Sussan Ley amid deepening turmoil following the Coalition’s latest rupture.
Party insiders say Hastie has been canvassing support since returning to Western Australia from Canberra late last week, making phone calls to disenchanted MPs frustrated by the party’s direction and its fractured relationship with the Nationals. The push has placed him in a tight contest with Angus Taylor, the former shadow treasurer, who is also viewed as a serious contender to replace Ms Ley should a spill be called.
According to multiple senior Liberal sources, Hastie has already secured the backing of more than 20 MPs and may require as few as six additional votes to seize the party’s top job. While no formal challenge has yet been declared, the speed with which numbers are being counted underscores the depth of internal unease gripping the Opposition.
Despite the growing speculation, Hastie has repeatedly declined to confirm his ambitions. Approached by 7 News during a morning run on Sunday, the Canning MP was dismissive of leadership chatter.
“I just don’t want to talk about party matters to the media, it’s just not what we do,” he said.
Pressed on claims that he had the numbers to mount a successful challenge, Hastie remained guarded.
“There are a lot of suggestions out there,” he said. “I’m not going to comment on the leadership, I want to keep my thoughts private.”
The leadership rumblings have accelerated sharply since the Coalition split for the second time since the last federal election, a breakdown that has exposed profound ideological and strategic differences between the Liberals and the Nationals.
The alliance unravelled last week after Ms Ley accepted the resignations of Nationals frontbenchers Bridget McKenzie, Susan McDonald and Ross Cadell. The trio had defied the shadow cabinet’s position by voting against Labor legislation aimed at cracking down on hate groups and radical Islamic preachers.
Their resignations triggered a dramatic response from Nationals leader David Littleproud, who withdrew his entire frontbench from the shadow ministry, effectively collapsing the Coalition partnership.
Liberal insiders say the fallout intensified existing doubts about Ms Ley’s authority and leadership style, particularly among MPs who believe she mishandled negotiations with the Nationals or failed to anticipate the scale of the backlash.
Several sources claim a leadership challenge was expected to be discussed at a party room meeting in Canberra within a fortnight. However, mounting frustration among conservative and centrist MPs alike has led to calls for the issue to be resolved sooner rather than allowing uncertainty to linger.
“This can’t drag on,” one senior Liberal MP said privately. “The party either backs Sussan decisively or moves on. The worst outcome is paralysis.”
Publicly, senior Liberals have sought to project unity. On Sunday, frontbencher Julian Leeser gave Ms Ley his “unequivocal support,” praising her leadership during what he described as a period of national crisis.
“During this period where Australia has been in a period of national crisis, she has shown the leadership that the prime minister has failed to do,” Leeser told Sky News.
Asked whether Hastie would be more effective in countering rising support for One Nation, Leeser refused to engage in hypotheticals.
“Sussan Ley is our leader and Sussan Ley is the person that I support in that role,” he said.
Yet behind the scenes, Liberal sources concede the party is deeply divided, with anger particularly directed at Mr Littleproud for what many Liberals view as an unnecessary and destabilising intervention by the junior Coalition partner.
Some MPs accuse the Nationals leader of deliberately “blowing up” the alliance to extract concessions from the Liberals or assert dominance over the Coalition’s policy direction.
Mr Littleproud has strongly rejected claims that he demanded Ms Ley’s resignation during a phone call earlier in the week. He has insisted the breakdown was driven by principle, not personal animosity.
He said the three Nationals senators who resigned after voting against Labor’s hate speech laws must be reinstated to the shadow cabinet before any reconciliation could occur.
“That’s the threshold question that our party room took,” Littleproud said.
“That’s the threshold question that was given to Sussan, she wasn’t prepared to accept it.”
His stance has hardened tensions and left the Liberals grappling with how to rebuild an effective opposition without their traditional Coalition partner — a task made more difficult by leadership uncertainty.
Despite the growing unrest, Ms Ley has struck a defiant tone, insisting she will survive as Liberal leader and leaving open the possibility of repairing relations with the Nationals.
Speaking on Sunrise on Friday, she was unequivocal when asked whether she expected to still be leader next month.
“Yes I will, and I’m backed by my Liberal Party in the decisions that I’ve made to date,” she said.
She also stressed that she had not closed the door on reunification with the Nationals.
“The door between a coalition, between our two parties, from my point of view, is still open,” Ms Ley said.
“But I’m not looking at that door. I’m looking at the Australian people because they’re counting on us to deliver for them.”
Her allies argue that capitulating to the Nationals would have undermined Liberal discipline and authority, while conceding to internal pressure now would only embolden future challenges.
Meanwhile, Angus Taylor continues to quietly sound out colleagues as he prepares to return to Australia from Europe. The former shadow treasurer is seen by some MPs as a steadier, more experienced alternative to both Ley and Hastie, particularly on economic policy.
One senior Liberal claimed Taylor enjoys strong backing from the influential NSW branch of the party, a factor that could prove decisive in any leadership ballot.
Speaking outside his Mandurah home last week, Hastie declined to comment directly on Taylor’s candidacy or the leadership tensions more broadly.
“These are complex matters,” he said.
The government has been quick to capitalise on the Opposition’s instability. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese suggested the push to remove Ms Ley was driven in part by sexism and misogyny, accusing the Liberals of undermining their first female leader.
“The Liberal Party has undermined its first female leader from day one,” Albanese said on Friday.
“(The Liberals and the Nationals) certainly don’t like each other, but they also don’t like each other within their parties — the Liberals don’t like other Liberals and the Nats don’t like other Nats.”
Albanese contrasted the Coalition’s internal battles with Labor’s focus on governing.
“I’m in a party of government because I want to be in a position to make a difference in this country,” he said. “The Coalition has just focused on themselves. It’s all about their internals.”
Treasurer Jim Chalmers was even more blunt, describing the Coalition as a “smoking ruin” and questioning its capacity to govern.
With leadership tensions escalating, the Coalition fractured and public confidence at stake, the Liberal Party faces a defining moment. Whether Ms Ley can consolidate support and reassert authority — or whether challengers like Hastie or Taylor force a reset — will shape not only the Opposition’s future but the balance of Australian politics heading into the next election cycle.
For now, the numbers are being counted, the phones are still ringing, and the uncertainty shows no sign of easing.
