Andrew Hastie knew taking on Pauline Hanson would cost him. Liberals are divided over the price of following suit

Andrew Hastie knew his attacks on Pauline Hanson this week would come at a cost.

He was already under siege. One Nation had been taking potshots at him for months, and a section of the Western Australian media was giving them an outlet to do so.

The former SAS captain’s intent was clear from mid-June, when he told his colleagues he’d “rather get taken out in a box than bend the knee to One Nation”.

Then came an accusation contained in a One Nation cartoon – shared by Hanson herself – that he betrayed his country by giving evidence against Victoria Cross-winner Ben Roberts-Smith in a failed defamation trial.

When Hastie went hard at Hanson over the “traitor” claims, the Western Australian MP did so knowing sections of his largely conservative support base could abandon him – and that some of his own colleagues wouldn’t be prepared to pay that price.

“Andrew knows there are some colleagues that could not support him because they don’t want to be on the wrong side of what they see as a popular cause: Ben Roberts-Smith,” says one senior Liberal, who is close to Hastie but requested anonymity to speak freely.

But former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Turnbull tells Guardian Australia that Hastie “should be entitled to absolute 100% solidarity from his team”.

Hastie’s supporters acknowledge his personal pushback against smears from One Nation could take some paint off his leadership ambitions – not from within the party room, but within a membership base that doesn’t like personal attacks on Hanson and believe Roberts-Smith has been treated unfairly.

Multiple Liberal sources say this strategic assessment was evident in statements from his party leader, Angus Taylor, who called on Hanson to remove a One Nation cartoon attacking Hastie but declined to personally attack her.

The federal party’s president – former prime minister Tony Abbott, who has expressed sympathy and support for Roberts-Smith – said it would be “right” for One Nation to remove the video, but nothing more.

It was stark contrast to an emotional defence of Hastie from crossbench senator Jacqui Lambie, herself an army veteran, who accused Hanson of being an “angry little woman” and a “bloody coward” for not apologising or taking down the video.

While the vast majority of Liberal MPs have rallied behind Hastie, party insiders concede this week has highlighted a small but significant divide about the treatment of Roberts-Smith.

“There are different views within the party,” says another senior Liberal source. “On this issue, there is no consensus.”

They also say a messy week has revealed a party grappling with how best to counter One Nation’s surge in the polls.

While some are willing to fight Hanson head-on, or feel they have no other choice, others prefer cautious silence.

‘He deserves 100% solidarity’

Hastie’s factional allies in parliament believe that if some colleagues didn’t publicly criticise Hanson this week, they never will.

“We have a couple of colleagues, it is a small number, who think we should never criticise Pauline Hanson and One Nation even when they do egregiously stupid and outrageous things,” says the senior source close to Hastie.

“They believe they are on our side and that somehow, by never criticising a political rival, their vote will fall and ours will rise.”

Turnbull says this is misguided. He says Hastie has been unfairly targeted for being a reluctant witness in the Roberts-Smith defamation case, where he was compelled to appear by subpoena.

“A senior member of the Coalition frontbench – a former SAS officer – has been accused of treason in cartoons published by One Nation,” Turnbull says.

“It is outrageous.”

Multiple Liberal sources describe Hastie’s direct rebuke of Hanson as a break from the party’s strategy of not directly attacking her. They fear personal attacks on her – such as calling her a coward – may unintentionally entrench support among her base by making her look victimised by the political establishment.

The Nationals leader, Matt Canavan, who tells Guardian Australia that One Nation went “too far” in its criticism of Hastie, said he would prefer to keep his criticism of Hanson respectful.

But he says he won’t shy away from calling her out, as “we have a duty and obligation to do that”.

“When you are running for office, you’ve got to be subject to scrutiny,” Canavan says.

‘Enough is enough’

Andrew Bragg, a moderate Liberal MP, says his factional rival should continue to call out One Nation.

“[Hastie has] done the right thing to rise about the pathetic, unpatriotic attacks on him,” Bragg says. “He has contextualised the matter and he should continue being forthright with his views.”

Jane Hume, another moderate, says Hastie has “shown plenty of patience” but “enough is enough”.

Not everyone is willing to be drawn into the fight, however.

“There are a couple of colleagues who are less keen on this and if it continues for months and months and months, some might begin to think, this is going too far,” says the senior Liberal close to Hastie.

Others welcome the fight playing out now.

“It is obviously better if this particular fight comes to a head now, rather than down the line, closer to the election,” says another senior Liberal.

The campaign in the west

Hastie’s supporters also believe sections of the media in Western Australia have been co-opted into a campaign against him, alleging it is ultimately benefiting two high-profile supporters of Roberts-Smith: Gina Rinehart and Kerry Stokes.

Both Stokes and Rinehart have been long-term supporters of Roberts-Smith who argue he has been treated unfairly by sections of the media and politicians.

The Stokes family are the largest shareholders in Southern Cross Media, which owns the Seven Network and the West Australian newspapers. In 2015, Stokes hired Roberts-Smith to be Seven’s general manager in Queensland.

About a decade later, his private company bankrolled the defamation action against Nine. It was the Nine newspapers that were first to publish allegations in 2018 that Roberts-Smith had committed war crimes.

There has been an historic rivalry between Seven and Nine. That only increased when Roberts-Smith’s defamation case was dismissed in 2023 and again on appeal in 2025.

Seven West insiders say this has been a factor in ongoing media coverage of Hastie.

This week, Hastie complained to his supporters about a front-page article in The Sunday Times newspaper, which carried the headline “I’M CANNING FOR YOU: Hanson’s warning to Hastie after Secret Harbour romp”.

He alleged the article contained “slander from One Nation” – and then criticised other journalism from the company during a press conference in Canberra.

Seven West Media were contacted for comment.

On Friday, Guardian Australia asked a spokesperson for Rinehart about the pressure on Hastie and One Nation’s cartoon.

The Hancock Prospecting spokesperson referred to Rinehart’s comments in July, which described Roberts-Smith as a “national hero” and accused Hastie of not supporting him.

In response to the video, they said: “It is veterans and Mr Hastie’s own conservative social media followers who use that word (traitor) to describe him.”