Andrew Hastie. A future leader

The dead of night. No GPS, no compass, no map. The only way to find my way home was to look up. The SAS taught me to navigate by the stars. It’s unnerving at first, but liberating. Treading by night looking up, unencumbered by technology. A lot of us are scared right now. All the old certainties—from economics to gender—are being questioned. It feels like constant political disorder. The centre-right political movement, like our Liberal Party, seems to be unsure of the way forward. Many of you have written to me asking about the way ahead. Does our tradition of ordered liberty under law, of parliamentary democracy, of open markets, have a future? I don’t have all the answers. I do know we’re not going to find directions from the usual places. We’re going to have to lift our eyes above the horizon. To the certainties that endure. I see a constellation of three stars. And I say we focus on them, to find our way home: 1. The Family. The smallest and most beautiful of all our institutions. Family life is where the nation begins. If we undermine this place of love, character formation and self-government—then we undermine the idea of Australia itself. Family life is under pressure from everywhere. You feel it. I feel it. We need to work out how to strengthen this little platoon, and support millions of resilient homes across the country. 2. The Home. We need to get young Australians into a home. This is intimately tied to family. Without a home, we delay and defer family formation. We don’t put roots down into our local community. We have a lesser stake in this great country. We have to get more young Australians into a home. 3. The Heart & Mind. In our families and homes, we need to be learners with brave hearts and bold minds. Education is vital to our character and moral formation. It is essential to a flourishing democracy. It is the best way for families to advance in life. To grow and improve their position. To seek new opportunities. The evidence shows we are falling behind other nations. We need to reverse this. We should be leading the world. That’s it for now. Three guiding stars. We’re not lost at all. Let’s start walking in that direction. We can course correct once we get going. Right now, we need to get moving. Regards Andrew Hastie http://www.andrewhastie.com.au/ Pic Of The Week It was great to have Jacinta Price's voice present at our Shadow Cabinet meeting in Sydney this week. Together Under One Flag I hope the Australian national flag makes us all feel a sense of gratitude for this country and a responsibility to preserve it. That's why I serve in Parliament, and why we must work together under one flag to defend the things we love. To get your free bumper sticker, please sign up using the link in the image above. Or send an email with your name and address to [email protected] Keep Up To Date On YouTube I regularly speak in Parliament on matters that affect you. To see all of my speeches, interviews and other content, please subscribe to my YouTube channel by signing up here, or clicking on the image above.