Andrew Hastie, the divisive star of the Liberal party’s internal political theatre, is staying silent – for now | Andrew Hastie

Andrew Hastie has never been one for the Parliamentary Question Theatre.

While his colleagues and political opponents continue to hurl insults and interjections across the chamber floor, the Liberal MP has conspicuously not remained silent.

So on Tuesday afternoon he watched silently from his new seat on the opposition backbench, the star of his own political theatre.

When Sussan Ley and communications spokeswoman Melissa McIntosh fielded question after question at Anika Wells about the Optus Triple-Zero failure, the attention of gallery journalists and photographers was focused elsewhere.

Standing alongside Rightwing ally Tony Pasin, the former Shadow Home Affairs Minister sat mostly expressionless as colleagues mocked Wells.

He remained silent as climate minister Chris Bowen mocked the coalition on energy policy, the subject of one of Hastie’s personal crusades, and treasurer Jim Chalmers referred to the “regulatory spit” dividing the Liberal Party for which Hastie is mostly blamed.

“They haven’t changed a bit, they haven’t learned a thing. They haven’t learned a thing. If they’re more divisive and more divided,” Chalmers said to raucous cheers from the government benches.

_{Registration: AU Breaking News Email}

Hastie also remained silent at a closed-door meeting of Liberal MPs on Tuesday morning, having faced most of her colleagues face to face since leaving the shadow cupboard in spectacular fashion on Friday.

But at least one colleague has something to say.

First-term MP Mary Aldred criticized the way Hastie handled his resignation and urged colleagues to start fighting labor, not themselves, according to two Liberal sources.

The Monash regional Victorian Seat member warned of the dangers of prolonged seaviews and told the meeting “if we keep fighting… I can tell you how it ends, the Victorian Liberal Party”.

The Liberal Party of Victoria, for the uninitiated, is synonymous with division and failure after losing the last three state elections to Labor and almost all of its federal seats in Metropolitan Melbourne.

Aldred could easily point to branches of the party in Western Australia or South Australia; Cautionary tales of liberal dysfunction now span the continent.

The intervention delivered in front of Hastie and his colleagues was particularly pointed out, given that he had previously briefed anonymously as “anonymous cowards” and “Muppets”.

Hastie’s allies insist the 43-year-old was sincere when he said he was not leaving the front bench to issue a challenge to Ley and that they wanted to give the leader “clear air”.

Canning MP told Condidantes that his decision to resign would cause internal backlash.

Occurred, including visible evidence leak Peter Dutton Provided Tuesday morning’s Liberal Election Campaign Review and Aldred’s Partyroom Confrontation.

So, after provocative public interventions on net zero, immigration and domestic manufacturing that left a divided and frustrated party room divided and frustrated, Hastie remained silent.

But the silence won’t last – Hastie himself has said as much.