One Nation migration policy: Barnaby Joyce clarifies after David Farley sparks confusion

One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce has been forced to clarify the party’s signature migration policy after a newly elected colleague suggested its widely promoted 130,000 net overseas migration target could actually be significantly higher.

One Nation has pledged to slash net overseas migration to 130,000, but newly elected MP David Farley sparked confusion after suggesting the figure would not include at least 100,000 skilled workers entering Australia through existing visa schemes.

That could potentially push the overall figure closer to 230,000 — roughly in line with Labor’s target of 225,000.

But appearing on Sunrise alongside Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek on Monday morning, Mr Joyce repeatedly insisted One Nation’s target remained 130,000.

“It’s 130 net. We’ve been saying that all along,” Mr Joyce said.

Asked directly whether there would be another 100,000 migrants on top of the figure, Mr Joyce was unequivocal.

“There’s not going to be an extra hundred on top of that. No.”

When host Natalie Barr asked whether Mr Farley had simply misspoken, Mr Joyce conceded: “Yeah.”

“Well, I mean that’s not unusual. Show me a political career where people haven’t made, you know, made a mistake. And I’ll show you a person who’s not telling the truth,” he said.

But Mr Joyce stopped short of publicly rebuking his new colleague.

“I’m not going to throw anybody under a bus. People, when people are new in Parliament, they can sometimes get things incorrect. And that’s what happens. God knows I’ve done it enough.”

Ms Plibersek seized on the confusion, joking that One Nation appeared to have a different migration policy depending on who was speaking.

“You know, if there’s three One Nation MPs in a room, there’s three different immigration policies,” she said.

She said about 70 per cent of Labor’s migration figure involved skilled visa holders and argued many were already in Australia, before challenging One Nation to explain which workers would be squeezed out under its proposed cuts.

“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.

Mr Joyce rejected the argument, insisting doctors and other essential workers represented only a small proportion of the migration intake and repeatedly challenged Ms Plibersek to provide figures for how many entered Australia each year.

The increasingly fiery exchange was eventually cut short by the Sunrise hosts as the program ran into its morning news bulletin.