Andrew Hastie

For the hockey player, see Andrew Hastie (field hockey).

The Honourable Andrew Hastie MP
File:Andrew Hastie Orignal (2).jpg Hastie in 2018
Assistant Minister for Defence
Incumbent
Assumed office 22 December 2020
Preceded by	Alex Hawke
Member of the Australian Parliament for Canning
Incumbent
Assumed office 19 September 2015
Preceded by	Don Randall
Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security
In office 15 February 2017 – 22 December 2020
Deputy	Anthony Byrne
Preceded by	Michael Sukkar
Succeeded by	James Paterson
Personal details
Born	Andrew William Hastie (1982-09-30) 30 September 1982 Wangaratta, Victoria, Australia
Political party	Liberal Party
Spouse	Ruth Hastie
Children	2
Residence(s)	Mandurah, Western Australia
Alma mater	University of New South Wales Australian Defence Force Academy Royal Military College, Duntroon
Profession	Military officer
Website	andrewhastie.com.au
Military service
Allegiance	Australia
Branch/service	Australian Army
Years of service	2001–2015
Rank	Captain
Unit	2nd Cavalry Regiment (2007–09) Special Air Service Regiment (2010–15)
Battles/wars	War in Afghanistan War on Terrorism

Andrew William Hastie (born 30 September 1982) is an Australian politician and Liberal Party member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing the division of Canning since 2015. He served as the Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security from 2017 to 2021. Prior to politics, Hastie was a troop commander in the Special Air Service Regiment.

Early life

Hastie's mother Sue was a primary school teacher for special needs children. His maternal grandmother Rose was a nurse and cared for Hastie's maternal grandfather Reginald, a war veteran.

His father Peter was a church pastor in Wangaratta, Victoria; and later in the inner Sydney urban suburb of Ashfield, where he helped launch Australia's first Mandarin-speaking Presbyterian Church. His paternal grandfather Willliam Hastie was an officer in the Royal Australian Air Force and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in World War II after being severely wounded by Japanese gunfire while making an air-sea rescue.

Education

When the family moved to the inner west of Sydney, Hastie began his primary education at Ashbury Public School. From year 5 he attended The Scots College in Sydney, completing his Higher School Certificate in 2000. Intending to become a journalist, Hastie began a Bachelor of Arts in History, Politics and Philosophy at the Kensington Campus of University of New South Wales in 2001, and also joined the University of New South Wales Regiment as a part-time reservist.

Hastie in Afghanistan at the rear of an ASLAV Type 1

Hastie joined the Australian Army full-time, but completed his second year at the Kensington Campus in 2002 before transferring to the University of New South Wales at Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra in 2003. He completed his bachelor's degree in 2004 and honours in 2005, where his final thesis examined Charles Bean's official history of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.

Hastie went on to officer training at Royal Military College, Duntroon in 2006, where he met his political mentor John Anderson. In 2007, Hastie completed the George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs U.S. Foreign Policy Summer Program in Washington, D.C.

Military career

Hastie began service with the Australian Defence Force as an officer cadet in 2001. His officer training was completed at Duntroon in 2006, and was commissioned as lieutenant from December. He was posted in 2007 with the 2nd Cavalry Regiment (Australia) of the Royal Australian Armoured Corps, based in Palmerston, Northern Territory. Hastie commanded a cavalry troop in 2008, before it was deployed in Afghanistan the following year.

First Afghan deployment, with 2nd Cavalry Regiment

Hastie first deployed to Afghanistan with Mentoring Task Force Two where he commanded a troop of Australian Light Armoured Vehicles. The troop's armoured operations began at the start of the fighting season in May 2009, concluding in February 2010. In a report on the mission, known as Operation Falcon's Talon, Colonel Connolly wrote that the goal of the forces in the Mirabad Valley was "to clear and dominate" the enemy.

Joining the SASR, and second deployment

Hastie successfully completed the Special Air Service Regiment Selection Course and was assigned to 1 SAS Squadron in May 2012 and was deployed to Port Moresby to support the Papua New Guinea Defence Force during a general election.

From February to July 2013, Hastie deployed to Afghanistan as an SASR officer with Special Operations Task Group Rotation XIX. Hastie told journalist Chris Masters his role was now, "to protect the base and take the fight to the enemy." More widely, the mission was to provide force protection as the ADF mentored the nascent Afghan National Security Force. Hastie led his troop in operations against hostile Taliban leadership in southern Afghanistan.

As part of Task Force 66 (Special Operations Task Groups IV-XX) Hastie's unit was awarded a Meritorious Unit Citation for "outstanding service on operations against an unrelenting, cunning and ruthless enemy, in an unforgiving environment."Little is known about Hastie's actual missions, as special forces exist to deliver "clandestine, discreet, strategic effects." However, as research by Chris Masters, Nick McKenzie and Ellen Whinnett has emerged, five events are known, which show both the actions of his unit, and the limitations of what he would later called "democracy at gunpoint."

1. "Objective Multiple Spoons" was the improbable name given to a high value leader who was on the "Joint Prioritized Effects List." The enemy commander was tracked by Hastie's colleagues using an "array of reconnaissance elements and intelligence platforms" and was located to an exact position using thermal imaging systems. One SASR operator recalled "We watched the heat dissipate from his shit in the cold of night." Hastie's men deployed to make the capture by Bushmasters, along with a Wakunish force element. These were special-forces-like soldiers from the North of Afghanistan, whom Hastie held in high regard. "The Wakunish were disciplined. They were tactically proficient. They were sensitive to the populace..." They encircled the target and attacked at first light, as per their rules of engagement for this context. The entire mission was observed by the commander of all Special Operations Forces for International Security Assistance Force, Brigadeer Bill Dechow, who "watched on as the Wakunish made entry and captured the senior objective without bloodshed." Hastie regarded it as exemplary of the kind of work special forces could achieve, "surgical and sensitive to locals. We even returned the objective's motorbike to the family."
2. On 28 February 2013 Hastie led a squad of men to support a remote outpost of Afghan National Police in the Deh Rahwod District planning to "supply them with some water, some Red Bull" and build trust with the local commander. While there, the Electronic Warfare Operator received communication intercepts indicating two Taliban fighters, seen at a distance of 1,000 metres, were planning a rocket attack on the post. Two boys, Toor Jan, age 7 and his brother Odood, who were collecting firewood had been mistakenly targeted for the two Taliban figures. Chris Masters research shows the subsequent "ADF inquiry would find no fault in Andrew Hastie's actions." While no personnel had done wrong on the Australian side recommendations were made to adjust "target correlation procedures" which refers to the way information had been shared with US partners.
3. On 28 April 2013, a major operation began against the senior insurgent commander, Abdul Hai. The attacking force of 120 included "one Commando and two Provincial Response Company platoons" led by Hastie's SASR B Troop, which he helped direct from the air. Several combatants were killed in the ensuing battle. On searching the dead men, one corporal severed the right hands of two "Enemy Killed in Action" using a scalpel. On attempting to do the same to a third EKIA the soldier was stopped by a sergeant who said, “What the f*** are you doing?” On arriving at this part of battle environment, Hastie gave the order to cease the practice and the next day the incident was reported to the CO, triggering a major ADF inquiry. The inquiry heard that there had recently been training on how to collect biometric samples, particularly in managing the aftermath of a suicide bomb event. Hastie later commented that “the guy giving instructions conflated site exploitation of a suicide bomber with that of biometric testing." The SASR corporal who severed the hands later conceded he had made an error of judgement in not first checking with his patrol commander. The inquiry made it clear that the practice, and the fact that some appeared to accept it at the time, "demonstrated a drift in values, or at least a degree of desensitisation."
4. Intelligence gathering operations constantly scanned for "chatter" on plans for suicide bombings by the Taliban. To interdict these operations, Hastie was required to work with local forces, however by May 2013 the Wakunish were now working independently, so Australia's forces need to work with the Provincial Response Company with whom they had few shared values. One of the first missions with the PRC was to capture a suicide bomber in Urozgan before he had the opportunity to attack. The operation was conducted in darkness "When they found the suicide bomber they were chasing, a barrel pressed against his temple was used to ease the man awake." Now the enemy was secure, along with his explosive vest, and rockets, the PRC commanders, and their own magistrate, had a stand off with Hastie — insisting that they should execute the captured man. The "person under confinement" was escorted to prison by Hastie and his team.
5. Hastie's B Company received intelligence of a Taliban plan to use a truck armed with a bomb to attack their own Forward operating base. The order was given for all personnel to put on armour and helmets if they were moving outside of secure buildings. An airstrike was considered once the exact location of the bomber was found, however, it was decided to neutralise the threat using Hastie's unit, on the ground. The force element was flown in on two Australian Black Hawks the bomber located and killed, and the team extracted.

Deployment in Jordan 2014-2015

Hastie deployed in late-2014 and 2015 to an intelligence role in the Middle East-based role countering ISIL as an Operations Officer for Operation Gallant Phoenix a classified defence operation based in Jordan. The operation is said to be collecting intelligence "from commando raids in Syria and Iraq and funnelling it to law enforcement agencies in Europe and Southeast Asia to help stop future attacks."

By mid 2013, Hastie had returned home to Perth. With his time in the SASR he felt he had achieved "the peak of soldiering" but had been frustrated at "the absence of strategy" which could only come from government. "We were hidebound by policy that compromised military principle. We were planning who we took out on the ground before we planned the mission.’ Hastie joined the Liberal Party of Australia shortly after his return. He resigned his commission from the ADF in August 2015 after announcing his candidature to run as the Member for Canning in the House of Representatives.

Political career (2015–present)

At a meeting of Alcoa workers in September 2018, Hastie spoke to support those on strike.

Hastie first ran for a seat in the Australian Federal Parliament in the 2015 Canning by-election and was re-elected in 2016 and 2019.

Turnbull Government

The seat of Canning became vacant by the death in office of the Liberal member, Don Randall, triggering the 2015 Canning by-election. Having won the Liberal Party pre-selection, Hastie launched his campaign in the electorate with support from Mathias Cormann and Julie Bishop, but was met with media criticism about the "severed hands" incident and his family's religious beliefs.

Hastie won 55.26% of votes under the two-party-preferred system, making him the 10th Federal Member for Canning, defeating Labor candidate Matt Keogh. He joined the government of Malcolm Turnbull who had himself become Prime Minister of Australia a week before the by-election. Hastie gave his first speech on 13 October 2015.

Hastie stood again for the division of Canning for the 2016 Australian federal election, winning 56.79% of the votes under the Two-party-preferred vote against Labor opposition candidate Barry Winmar, moving his seat from being "marginal" to "fairly safe" according to the Australian Electoral Commission.

Hastie with Anthony Byrne (left), Labor MP and Deputy Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security.

Hastie was appointed to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security in September 2016, and chaired the committee from February 2017 until December 2020, which receives briefings from the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (Australia), Australian Signals Directorate and Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.

Morrison Government

During the August 2018 Liberal Party leadership spills, Hastie publicly supported a change in the party leadership. Scott Morrison was elected leader of the Liberal Party, becoming Prime Minister of Australia.

In his electorate, Hastie supported striking Alcoa Australia workers, organised by the Australian Workers' Union. Hastie said he supported the strikers because "energy production in Australia is too expensive and it is hurting industry, workers, seniors and families." Hastie has opposed dredging and the development of the Mandurah Estuary for a 300-berth marina, citing the lack of grassroots interest as well as environmental and possible geo-strategic concerns. He strongly supports the AUD22 million foreshore development project, allocating AUD7 million in federal funds, towards a new civic square, convention centre, a large-scale adventure play area and an ecotourism hub.

In the 2019 Australian federal election, held on 18 May, Hastie ran for re-election and won 61.83% of the two-party-preferred vote against the Australian Labor Party's candidate Mellisa Teede. Hastie spoke in 45 debates in 2019, above average according to Open Australia, mostly regarding national security matters.

Hastie was appointed to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security in September 2016, and invited to chair the committee from February 2017. It's known the committee receives briefings from Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (Australia), Australian Signals Directorate and Australian Security Intelligence Organisation. As such, Hastie and fellow members of the bi-partisan committee are "privy to a lot of information and intelligence briefings that other members of parliament aren't." Through his work with the PJCIS Hastie came to conclude that Australia is "facing an unprecedented threat from espionage and foreign interference, and that current laws are not adequate to deal with this threat.” At this point the source of the foreign interference was unnamed. Following its deliberations, the committee reviewed and amended the Espionage and Foreign Interference Act 2018 and Security of Critical Infrastructure Act 2018

Uyghur delegates meeting with Andrew Hastie MP and Sen James Paterson in November 2019

China statement

In August 2019 Hastie wrote an Op-ed column, "We Must See China with Clear Eyes" for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers, where he stated that "Communist China", rather than Islamic terrorism, would be the real security concern of the 21st century. The piece was criticised by the Chinese Embassy in Australia and some leaders, such as Premier Mark McGowan denounced Hastie for "extreme and inflammatory language." Conversely, Hastie received public support from fellow Liberal MPs Dave Sharma and Peter Dutton, and Professor Clive Hamilton.

The diplomatic fallout was prompt. Hastie had been invited on a study trip with several colleagues to China with the independent think tank China Matters. However the Chinese embassy announced “that at this time Mr Hastie and Senator Paterson are not welcome" unless they "genuinely repent and redress their mistakes." This snub was part of a wider activity of Overseas censorship of Chinese issues by the Communist Party of China and had the effect of making Australians more aware of CCP attempts to control Australians, with Hastie later saying "That press statement did all the work for us." Hastie's warnings about Chinese abuses of human rights and interference with sovereign nations appeared to be further vindicated when newspapers released 400 pages of Chinese documents on the workings of internment camps in Xinjiang, shortly followed by the apparent defection of a young Chinese spy with information in connection with a Chinese Australian, Nick Zhao who was funded by Chinese interests to run for parliament, and was later found dead in a hotel room. As a further coincidence, in the weeks following publication, authorities in Hong Kong began arresting leaders of the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, a movement Hastie has strongly supported. By raising concerns about foreign interference, the opinion piece has been seen as a "threshold", with other commentators predicting that Hastie's concerns "will dominate the political agenda", having been discussed in the pages of global newspapers such as Haaretz, The Times and The New York Times. When interviewed by The Washington Post six months after his op-ed, Hastie said that while he had initially experienced ridicule, the "debate has shifted" about China intimidating democratic nations.

In May 2020, Hastie was one of 20 Australian politicians to sign a letter condemning the "comprehensive assault on the city's autonomy, rule of law and fundamental freedoms", in response to a "new legal framework and enforcement mechanism to ensure national security in Hong Kong" by the National People's Congress of China.

Hastie was one of a number of backbenchers who pushed for added restrictions on foreign investment into Australian companies during this time. Other supporters included Labor's Anthony Byrne and Kimberley Kitching then coalition MPs Dave Sharma, Tim Wilson, James Paterson, Alex Antic and Amanda Stoker. However, Hastie went further, arguing that such purchases are simply part of a wider arsenal of political warfare currently conducted by the Chinese Communist Party. By late April 2020 Hastie was arguing that CCP Actions in Australia were actively prosecuting political warfare, using economic and diplomatic channels.

On 4 June 2020, the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, Hastie joined a group of 19 MPs from eight countries and the European Parliament to form the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China. Hastie was invited to co-chair the Australian arm of the alliance with Senator Kimberley Kitching.

At the time the foreign interference inquiry was announced, it emerged that both Hastie and his family had been made subject to foreign intelligence assessments, conducted by Shenzhen Zhenhua Data. The database leak revealed that extensive information on Mike Cannon-Brookes, Arthur Sinodinos, Joe Hockey and Scott Morrison and their families has also been collected.

Brereton Report

In mid 2018, it emerged several Special Forces operators were under investigation for possible war crimes, including murder of innocent people; and Hastie urged that these accusations be taken seriously and dealt with publicly. It later became clear that he was assisting Major General Brereton with his inquiry. The redacted report was released in November 2020, which recommended that charges be laid for the unlawful killing of 39 Afghanis by 25 Australian soliders between 2006 and 2013. In his initial response, the Chief of Defence called for 2 Squadron to be disbanded. Hastie, who had served with 1 Squadron, wrote a column expressing that as "someone who believes in regimental honour, I feel great shame in what has occurred." He argued that Defence had sanitised the nature of war and that the ADF, both soldiers and officers, needed more accountability before the parliament.

Assistant Minister for Defence

On 22 December 2020, Morrison appointed Hastie as Assistant Minister for Defence. He soon after began alerting people to cyber attacks, both on media outlets and the Parliament.

Political views

Congressman Mike Gallagher with Andrew Hastie by a statue of Sir David Stirling at Campbell Barracks in Western Australia in August 2019

Hastie has been described as a conservative. He is a member of the Atlantic Council, an international think tank formed to assert democratic values, and politically connected to conservative politicians Mike Gallagher and Tom Tugendhat. His personal convictions about democracy, according to one ABC report, grow out of his Christian belief that "everyone is equal and has dignity", which informs his views on various policies, such as individual freedoms, the need for strong institutions and sovereignty.

Hastie asserted in his first speech that for him individual freedom is a guiding principle, particularly freedom of "thought, worship, speech, association and choice." Hastie has argued for the right of religious people "to express their convictions" and believes it is unacceptable for opponents of same-sex marriage to be taken to anti-discrimination tribunals. In the same-sex marriage debate, Hastie campaigned for "No" and abstained from the 2017 parliamentary vote, asserting freedom of conscience.

Hastie believes that "freely formed associations are the basis of Australian society and are the fullest expression of self-government." He is particularly concerned about the freedom of institutions such as universities and the press. In May 2018, Hastie identified political donor Chau Chak Wing as an unindicted co-conspirator in an FBI bribery case involving former president of the UN general assembly, John Ashe, a move that was seen as dramatic and inflammatory, but which Hastie saw as "his duty." An ABC analyst noted that Chau Chak Wing was, at that time, in court proceedings against Nine media for defamation, and that Hastie acted "because he has become sincerely worried about the influence of China on Australian institutions and politics." Arguing in favour of "the sovereignty of local communities to make decisions about how they conserve and develop their environment", Hastie opposed the dredging of The Point Grey Marina but supported the investment of $3 million by the Environment Restoration Fund to protect Carnaby's black cockatoo, a native bird endemic to Southwest Australia and currently listed as endangered due to loss of habitat.

Australian sovereignty was Hastie's central concern in a column that caused a "firestorm" in Sino-Australian relations in August 2018. His concerns regarding Australia maintaining its sovereignty in the face of China's rising power in the region led him to form the Parliamentary Friends of Democracy with Labor senator Kimberley Kitching. Hastie publicly opposed Malcolm Turnbull's push to legislate the Paris Agreement emissions target and the National Energy Guarantee, as he believed it would undermine Australia's economic sovereignty. However, Hastie was a strong supporter of the Turnbull Government's decision to prevent Huawei from providing 5G services in Australia and he urged the UK to do the same.

Hastie has explained that his views have been influenced by his military experience, as mentioned in an interview with ex-SAS commanders Ben Pronk and Tim Curtis:

I take my time in Afghanistan, especially in my first deployment, particularly my time with MRTF2 with the 1RAR battle group, as being very formative for me, doing nation-building and realising the limitations of government to change people and their culture. We built bridges, we built a bazaar where we expected people to trade, we built schools and hospitals, we built all sorts of things, but fundamentally, we didn’t change the way the Afghan people lived. Respecting people’s sovereignty, and people’s freedom to live as they choose is something that I learned over there.

This experience made Hastie sceptical of neoliberalism, saying, "I am now far more circumspect about the ability of military power to change people and societies, and far more aware of how resilient culture can be."

Personal life

Hastie on election night in Mandurah in 2019, with his wife Ruth and their two children.

Hastie met his wife Ruth in the summer of 2007 while he was studying at George Washington University. Their first date was "watching then-president George W. Bush walk from the Oval Office across the lawns of the White House to be whisked away in the Marine One helicopter." Some months later, Hastie proposed to Ruth on the steps of the Sydney Opera House. The two were married in 2008 at Capitol Hill Baptist Church. Their children were born in Perth in June 2015 and August 2017. The family of four now lives in the City of Mandurah in the Peel region of Western Australia.

Hastie lists "biographies, Shakespeare, psalms" among his interests. In 2016, he launched the annual Canning Shakespeare Competition in Mandurah.

Hastie has been recognised as “a man of deep faith”, but has also been described as a "religious fundamentalist". After rejecting religion in adolescence, he has been part of reformed and evangelical churches including Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington DC, Shenton Park Anglican Church, Crossroads Church in Canberra (a congregation of the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches), and Peel Presbyterian Church in Mandurah.

Honours and awards

	Australian Active Service Medal	with clasp for ICAT
	Afghanistan Medal	Operation SLIPPER
	Australian Service Medal	with clasp for CT/SR (Counter Terrorism / Special Recovery)
	Australian Defence Medal
	NATO Medal for the Non-Article 5 ISAF Operation in Afghanistan	with clasp ISAF
	Meritorious Unit Citation with Federation Star	Awarded to Task Force 66 in the 2015 Australia Day Honours
	Infantry Combat Badge
	Army Combat Badge

References

Sources

• Masters, Chris (2019). No Front Line: Australian special forces at war in Afghanistan. Sydney: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 9781760111144.

External links

• Parliamentary biography