One Nation leader Pauline Hanson threatens to take control of foreign-owned farms

One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce is being widely criticised today for an interview in which he said foreigners, including those granted permanent residency, should be forced to sell apartments or houses they own in Australia.

He soon changed position, saying permanent residents would be allowed to keep their homes under the One Nation policy, leading senior Coalition MP Jane Hume to say: “It’s a slogan. It’s not a policy. It’s got no substance behind it.”

But Mr Joyce’s original comments were similar to remarks made by Senator Hanson 12 days ago, except she proposed going further and requiring the government to take possession of farms owned by foreigners who refused to sell up.

“I don’t believe foreigners should own any housing in Australia or our farming land,” she said in an interview with a New Zealand podcaster posted on May 24.

“My attitude is, I would stop them and I’d give you two years to sell your product. If you don’t, it will be repossessed by the government.”

About 13 per cent of Australian farmland, or 50 million ha, is owned by foreign individuals or companies, led by Britain, China and Canada, according to government records.

Among them is British financier Guy Hands, who owns Australian farmland approximately the size of Tasmania, including Rawlinna Station in Western Australia, the nation’s largest sheep station.

Forcing foreigners to sell their farms would likely lower land prices, experts say, and reduce investment in agriculture, one of Australia’s top exports.

‘I’m still confused’

The prospect of government agents, potentially escorted by armed police, seizing property from foreigners led to further questions to One Nation on Friday morning.

Sydney radio host Mark Levy asked newly elected One Nation senator Sean Bell if permanent residents, who have to wait four years for citizenship, would lose their homes if they refused to sell.

“I think we need to make this abundantly clear, because I’m still confused,” Levy asked on 2GB. “What happens after two years if they do not divest that property? Do you kick them out of the house?”

The senator said: “It’s perfectly reasonable to expect that homes in Australia go to Australian citizens. We believe that people need to be given the opportunity to divest. And here’s the thing, Mark, temporary residents are not here to reside permanently in Australia.”

When Senator Bell did not directly answer the question after several tries, Mr Levy ended the interview. “Sean, come back to me when you’ve actually got an answer,” he said.

Senator Bell’s attempt to explain the policy on Friday morning created confusion given Mr Joyce, a former Leader of the Nationals party, on Thursday night reversed his own comment and said permanent residents would be allowed to keep their homes under One Nation’s policy.

“Permanent residents have been accepted to settle in Australia permanently,” he told Andrew Bolt on Sky News. “They live here, work here, pay taxes here and build their lives here. Many are on the path to citizenship. One Nation’s policy does not require them to sell their homes.”

The Government does not publish the number of foreigners allowed to live in Australia permanently. Over the past four years 790,000 people emigrated to Australia, according to Abul Rizvi, a former official in the Immigration Department.

Whether they take out citizenship after four years is up to their discretion.

About 3 million people live in Australia temporarily, he said, including students, backpackers and people transferred in by their employers. Some 730,000 are New Zealanders, who favour South-East Queensland. “Many of them would own property,” Mr Rizvi said.

The questions over One Nation’s property policies are a sign of the increased scrutiny the right-wing party is likely to face now that it has overtaken the Coalition in most opinion polls.

A survey published on Monday by Redbridge and Accent Research estimated One Nation’s support at 31 per cent, the first time it has surpassed both major parties.

Although there is no requirement in the constitution the prime minister must be a member of the lower house, Australian parties follow the convention inherited from Britain that the leader of the party with a majority in the House of Representatives becomes prime minster.

Ms Hanson said last week she was capable of leading Australia. “I believe that I have the ability to do it,” she told Sky News.

Political commentator and author Paul Kelly wrote this week that she is “not fit to be prime minister of Australia, she’s not equipped to do the job, she can’t do the job.”