Andrew Hastie is one of the few Liberal figures who clearly wants to lead his party

He’s said so himself in a podcast appearance earlier this year, stressing that he has “a desire to lead” and wants to shape the party through ideas.

But wanting the job and being the person younger Australians can relate to and trust are very different questions. And even if he fits the bill for some, it’s not obvious that a Hastie-led Liberal Party would solve the Coalition’s generational problem.

Who is Andrew Hastie?

Andrew Hastie was born in 1982, putting him in his early 40s – technically a younger leader by Australian political standards. He grew up in Victoria, attended the Australian Defence Force Academy and Duntroon, and served in the Australian Army from 2001 to 2015, including in Afghanistan and against ISIL, reaching the rank of captain in the SAS Regiment.

He entered parliament in 2015, winning the by-election for the WA seat of Canning and has been re-elected several times since. He’s held significant roles: chair of the powerful Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, Assistant Minister for Defence in the Morrison government, and more recently senior roles in the shadow ministry.

Hastie’s public persona is built around three themes he repeats often:

• National security and defence strength

• Sovereignty and strategic competition with China

• “Common sense, clarity and courage” in politics, particularly on social cohesion, immigration and culture.

His political outlook is usually described as firmly on the conservative/right flank of the Liberal Party. One recent summary of his record characterises his views as right-wing populist, including strong opposition to multiculturalism, high immigration, abortion, LGBTQ rights and the transition to net zero emissions.

What do younger Australians say they want from politics?

To judge whether younger Australians can relate to and trust Hastie, it helps to look at what voters under about 40 are actually telling pollsters.

Recent studies and polling show:

• Young voters are walking away from the Coalition in large numbers.
  Early data from the 2025 Australian Election Study shows the Coalition’s primary vote among millennials around 21%, a record low.

• Climate change remains a top-tier issue for young Australians.
  Surveys suggest four in five young voters regard climate change as important when deciding how to vote, and around 80% of 18–34-year-olds say they are at least moderately worried about its impact on their future.

• Housing and cost-of-living pressures are now absolutely central.
  YouGov polling identifies housing affordability as the top federal issue, while other studies show young voters prioritising rent, wages, debt and basic living costs alongside climate.

• Young voters are more socially liberal and more diverse.
  Analyses of the 2025 election note that Gen Z and Millennials are far more supportive of multiculturalism and progressive social policies, and more likely to favour minor parties such as the Greens and left-leaning independents over the Coalition.

In short: younger Australians tend to want credible climate action, relief on housing and cost of living, and broadly inclusive, socially liberal politics – plus a sense that politicians are authentic and willing to stand for something.

Where Andrew Hastie does connect with younger Australians

Despite big philosophical gaps, there are some clear ways Hastie could appeal to a slice of younger voters.

1. A younger, “real world” background

Compared with many senior Liberals who came up through staffer and party-machine routes, Hastie’s CV – army officer, combat deployments, then local MP – looks more grounded. His own biography emphasises living in Mandurah with his young family and “leading Aussie diggers” in the field before entering politics.

For younger Australians who are weary of “career politicians”, the combination of military service and community-based campaigning can feel more authentic and relatable than another white-collar policy wonk.

2. Willingness to talk about purpose and meaning

In interviews and speeches, Hastie often talks about:

• Re-industrialising Australia and providing “meaningful work”

• Pushing back against the influence of big tech and global corporations

• The importance of family, home, education and small business as “enterprise institutions” that give people purpose.

Those themes can resonate with younger Australians who feel economically insecure and culturally unmoored. Even if they disagree with his prescriptions, some may respond to a politician who talks about more than just tax cuts and GDP.

3. A reputation for conviction and internal dissent

Hastie has shown he’s prepared to cross internal party lines. He publicly supported more parliamentary oversight of defence, including scrutiny of operations he was once part of, arguing for greater transparency around the military.

More recently, he resigned from the shadow cabinet rather than stay silent on immigration, after being stripped of that portfolio. He criticised both the government’s migration settings and his own party’s unwillingness, in his view, to speak honestly about the issue.

For younger voters who value authenticity and dislike “politics as usual”, this sort of stand-on-principle behaviour can be attractive – again, especially if they broadly share his values.

Where Hastie clashes with younger Australians

The problems for Hastie’s youth appeal are just as clear – and arguably much bigger.

1. Climate change and net zero

Internal Liberal debates over net zero emissions have put Hastie squarely at odds with the priority young voters place on climate action.

• Senior Liberal women, including Maria Kovacic, Jane Hume and Karen Andrews, have warned that abandoning net zero would further alienate women and younger voters – precisely the groups the party has already lost in metropolitan seats.

• These warnings came because Hastie and other conservatives have publicly argued the party should scrap its net zero commitment, describing it as a constraint or “straitjacket” on the Liberal future.

At the same time, polling consistently shows that most Australians – and especially younger Australians – want stronger climate action, not weaker.

That leaves Hastie on the wrong side of an issue that is not just symbolic but emotionally charged for many under 35. For younger voters who see climate as existential, a leader arguing to retreat from net zero will struggle to be seen as trustworthy, regardless of other qualities.

2. Immigration, multiculturalism and social cohesion

Hastie has made high immigration and social cohesion central to his message. His resignation from the frontbench was triggered by a desire to be unrestrained in criticising what he calls “out of control” migration and its impact on housing and services.

Analyses of his record describe him as strongly opposed to multiculturalism and sceptical of large-scale immigration more generally.

While many younger Australians are anxious about housing and infrastructure strain, they are also part of the most ethnically diverse generation in Australian history, with high rates of inter-cultural friendship, mixed families and migrant backgrounds. For them, the tone of debate matters as much as the numbers. A leader perceived as hostile to multiculturalism may therefore find it harder to win their trust, even if they share concerns about housing supply.

3. Social issues and cultural conservatism

Younger Australians tend to be more accepting of LGBTQ rights, reproductive rights and pluralistic social norms. Hastie’s politics, by contrast, are firmly socially conservative, including opposition to abortion and LGBTQ rights according to multiple profiles.

There is a segment of younger Australians – particularly religious or culturally conservative voters – who could find that stance appealing and trustworthy. But numerically, broader generational trends point in the opposite direction.

In other words: Hastie looks well-placed to be the authentic champion of a minority of younger Australians, not the bridge to the generation as a whole.

Trust: conviction vs. polarisation

“Trust” is not just about whether people agree with your policies; it’s also about whether they see you as honest, competent and acting in good faith.

On the plus side for Hastie:

• His military background and national-security experience project competence and seriousness on defence.

• His willingness to resign from senior roles rather than compromise on issues such as immigration reinforces an image of principle rather than opportunism.

• His critiques of big tech, economic de-industrialisation and global corporate power tap into a broader unease among younger people about being at the mercy of forces beyond their control.

On the other hand:

• Some commentators and internal critics portray Hastie as a polarising figure, even calling him the most “dangerous” politician in parliament or likening his style to US-style “MAGA” politics.

• If a leader is seen as fighting a culture war – particularly against net zero and progressive social change – that can make it hard to win the trust of voters whose primary concerns are climate, inclusivity and housing, not identity politics.

• Younger voters already show low trust in major parties generally; many are using their vote to keep out conservative governments, rather than enthusiastically endorsing Labor.

So, Hastie can be perceived as highly trustworthy inside his ideological tribe, and deeply untrustworthy outside it. That’s not unusual in modern politics, but it matters for a party that needs to rebuild a broad coalition.

Is Andrew Hastie the future of the Liberal Party?

This is really two questions:

1. Is he personally a plausible future leader?

2. Would choosing him help or hurt the party’s long-term prospects, especially with younger Australians?

1. Is he a plausible future leader?

On the first question, the answer is yes, absolutely:

• Hastie has openly declared his desire to lead the Liberal Party in the future.

• He has a national profile, deep support among conservatives and a distinctive message on defence, sovereignty and social cohesion.

• Leadership speculation has already surfaced around him, particularly amid internal turmoil over climate and immigration policy and tension with current leader Sussan Ley.

From a purely internal-party perspective, he has the CV, the ambition and a clear ideological base – all ingredients for a future leadership tilt.

2. Would a Hastie leadership help the party with younger Australians?

Here the picture becomes much murkier.

The data is clear: the Liberal Party has a serious youth problem. Gen Z and Millennials delivered historically low primary votes to the Coalition in 2025, with some analyses suggesting only around one in five millennial voters backed the Coalition and even fewer Gen Z voters did.

At the same time, young voters overwhelmingly say they want stronger climate action, and many are wary of socially conservative and hard-line immigration politics.

Hastie is positioning himself in almost direct opposition to those currents:

• * Urging the party to reconsider or drop net zero, despite warnings this will repel young voters;

• * Making high immigration and cultural cohesion central fault lines;

• * Standing firmly on socially conservative terrain.

Strategically, that could still “work” if the Liberal Party chooses to:

• * Shrink to a more cohesive, primarily older and more conservative base;

• * Compete more directly with One Nation and other right-wing parties for culturally conservative voters;

• * Focus on outer-suburban, regional and religiously conservative seats rather than inner-city and younger demographics.

In that scenario, someone like Hastie could absolutely be “the future”: the figurehead of a tighter, more clearly right-wing Liberal Party.

But if the party instead decides it must win back younger, urban and female voters to form government – as many moderates argue – then a Hastie leadership looks risky. Senior Liberal women are already warning that his climate stance alone could further alienate those demographics.

So, can younger Australians relate to and trust Andrew Hastie – and is he the Liberals’ future?

Putting it all together:

• Can younger Australians relate to and trust him?

  • Some can. Young Australians who are socially conservative, religious, defence-minded or deeply worried about social cohesion may see Hastie as exactly the kind of conviction politician they crave: younger, tested in uniform, unafraid of internal fights.

  • But for the majority of younger Australians – who prioritise climate action, are more comfortable with multicultural and progressive social norms, and are suspicious of culture-war rhetoric – Hastie’s positions make him a hard sell as someone they can relate to or trust with their future.

• Is he the future of the Liberal Party?

  • He is very likely to be a central figure in the Liberal Party’s future – as a standard-bearer for its conservative wing and a serious leadership contender.

  • Whether he becomes the future – the leader who defines the party for the next decade – depends on which strategic fork in the road the Liberals choose: a smaller, sharper conservative party, or a broader, more centrist party trying to win back young and urban voters.

Right now, the weight of demographic and polling evidence suggests that a Hastie-style platform makes it harder, not easier, to rebuild support among younger Australians. That doesn’t mean he won’t lead the party one day – but if he does, it will say as much about the path the Liberals have chosen as it does about him personally.

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