[6] Paterson joined the Liberal Party at the age of 17, despite coming from "a Labor or Greens-voting family of long-time trade union members".

[1] In March 2016, the Victorian division of the Liberal Party of Australia nominated Paterson to fill the casual vacancy in the Senate caused by the resignation of Michael Ronaldson.

[9] Some believe this is due to criticism the pair has raised about Chinese actions towards the Uighurs in Xinjiang province[10] as well as attempted influencing of opinion about China within Australia.

[12] In 2021, Paterson was elected Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security following Andrew Hastie's appointment as Assistant Minister for Defence.

[17][18] Coming from the IPA where he was a fellow, Paterson has been associated with Libertarian elements of Liberal Party, who put a strong emphasis on freedom of speech as well as free markets.

[22][23][tone] Paterson expressed his support of Brexit, and a freedom of movement deal between Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom (CANZUK).