One Nation’s migration policy has come under fresh pressure after confusion erupted over how many people the party would actually allow into Australia each year, prompting Nat Barr to grill Barnaby Joyce in a heated Sunrise interview on Monday.
The dispute began after newly elected One Nation Farrer MP David Farley suggested the party’s proposed migration intake was “not too different” from Labor’s target. While One Nation has publicly set a net overseas migration target of 130,000, far below the federal government’s forecast of 225,000, Farley indicated that figure did not include at least 100,000 skilled workers arriving under existing visa programs. That appeared to place One Nation’s effective intake at about 230,000, broadly matching the government’s forecast.
Farley had outlined that position on ABC’s Insiders on Sunday, saying One Nation had separated what he described as a “true NOM”, or net overseas migration figure, from workers entering Australia through certain schemes. “What we’re doing is we’re focusing on the NOM in its true form, and then we’ve got these programs that have been available now for over a decade that drive our economy,” Farley told ABC’s Insiders on Sunday. “The raw number is not too different, but the reality is, where do we need them? We don’t need them in the great urban metroplex — we need them out to be productive, working in agriculture, engineering, mining.”
Barr repeatedly pressed Joyce over the apparent inconsistency. “It’s 130 net,” Joyce said. “We’ve been saying that all along.” He insisted short-term arrivals were already treated differently under the standard measure. “If you’re in Australia for 12 months or less out of 16, and a lot of visa holders are, that’s not included in the NOM [net overseas migration],” he said.
As Barr continued questioning whether permanent migrants and skilled workers would still sit inside the party’s target, Joyce maintained there was no extra intake beyond the stated figure. “If there’s permanent migration, it fits within that number, that’s why its called net,” he said. “There’s not going to be an extra hundred on top of that.”
Asked if Farley had simply got it wrong, Joyce conceded his colleague had made a mistake, but defended him. “Show me a political career where people haven’t made a mistake and I’ll show you a person who’s not talking the truth,” he said. “I’m not going to throw anybody under a bus. When people are new in parliament they can sometimes get things incorrect and that’s what happens. God knows I’ve done it enough.”
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson later stepped in to reinforce that the party’s migration target remained 130,000 people. She said short-term seasonal agricultural workers who failed to meet the residency test were already excluded from net overseas migration figures. “They come for limited periods, often live on farms or regional properties while they work, and return home,” Hanson said in a post to X.
Hanson said any cuts under a One Nation government would instead come from reducing the number of international students and dependants entering Australia, along with a more targeted skilled migration program. “One Nation’s target is less than half Labor’s current level,” Hanson said. “Labor opened the floodgates to mass migration and has repeatedly blown its own migration forecasts since coming to government. “Australians are living with the consequences. Homes are less affordable, emergency departments are overwhelmed, roads are more congested and essential services are stretched beyond capacity.”
Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek seized on the muddle, accusing One Nation of failing to settle on a single position. “If there’s three One Nation MPs in a room, there’s three different immigration policies,” she said.
Plibersek said about 70 per cent of the government’s migration intake was made up of skilled visa holders, many of whom had already been living and working in Australia before receiving those visas. She also said the government had reduced migration by 45 per cent since taking office, before challenging Joyce to say which overseas workers should be refused entry. “I’d be interested to know from Barnaby which rural doctors he doesn’t want here, which aged care workers that work in nursing homes in his electorate, which people in the building industry or the people who work in abattoirs,” she said.
Joyce fired back by arguing that doctors and other essential workers accounted for only a small share of the total intake. “Is she proposing that we are going to bring in 225,000 doctors, is she? Or 225,000 fruit pickers? Or 225,000 abattoir workers?” he said. “It’s a very small portion of the number that come into Australia.”
The pair then clashed further as Joyce repeatedly demanded Plibersek reveal how many overseas doctors and aged-care workers enter Australia each year. “You don’t know, because they weren’t on your talking points,” Joyce argued.
