About Andrew Hastie
Andrew William Hastie (born 30 September 1982) is an Australian politician and former military officer who has served as the deputy leader of the Opposition and the deputy leader of the Liberal Party in the House of Representatives since 2026. He has been the member of parliament (MP) for the Western Australian division of Canning since 2015. Hastie was born in Wangaratta, Victoria. He completed a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in History and Philosophy through the University of New South Wales (UNSW) at the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA), and completing officer training at the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in 2006. He was subsequently deployed to the war in Afghanistan and served as a troop commander in the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR). Hastie left the Australian Defence Force (ADF) in 2015, and was first elected to the House of Representatives at the 2015 Canning by-election, replacing Don Randall. Hastie served as the Assistant Minister for Defence from 2020 to 2022, during the Morrison government. Following the 2022 election, he served as Shadow Minister for Defence, as well as Shadow Minister for Defence Industry and Defence Personnel in the Dutton shadow ministry. He was the Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security from 2017 to 2020. Hastie was appointed Shadow Minister for Home Affairs in May 2025. He retired from the role in October 2025 after resigning from the party's frontbench over internal policy disputes. He returned to the frontbench in February 2026, serving as the Shadow Minister for Industry and Sovereign Capability. A prominent member of the National Right, his views have been described as right-wing populist and far-right, with strong stances against multiculturalism, immigration, abortion, LGBTQ rights, and net-zero emissions in Australia. Having won the Liberal Party pre-selection, Hastie campaigned with support from Mathias Cormann and Julie Bishop. Hastie won 55.26% of votes under the two-party-preferred system, defeating Labor candidate Matt Keogh. Hastie gave his first speech on 13 October 2015. Hastie was a troop commander in the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) prior to entering politics.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.