Andrew Hastie rebuked by Mary Aldred in Liberal Party room meeting for quitting frontbench role

First-term Liberal MP Mary Aldred has rebuked rebel colleague Andrew Hastie for quitting his frontbench role and warned the party will turn into a Victorian-style basket case if it continues to navel-gaze and let Labor off the hook.

In Tuesday morning’s Liberal Party room meeting in Canberra, Aldred stood up and said she and other colleagues would lose their seats at the next election if the party did not unite, focus on its core strengths and turn the heat on the government.

The new MP for the regional Victorian seat of Monash clipped Hastie in her speech, saying that she disagreed with the way he handled his resignation – reflecting the sentiment of many of his colleagues, including some of his allies.

“This is how we become like the Victorians,” three MPs, unable to publicly speak ab