One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce has stood by colleague David Farley after he said the party’s proposed cut to migration rates would not be as dramatic as proposed and were similar to the federal government’s current numbers.
The recently elected Farley had said One Nation’s migration policy would include a cut to net overseas migration (NOM) to 130,000, plus existing commercial or skilled migration channels—skilled or PALM visas—adding another 100,000.
Farley conceding the final estimate of about 230,000 migrants per year would be “not too different” from Labor’s current intake, during an interview with ABC Insiders.
“The raw number is not too different, but the reality is, where do we need them?” he said.
“We don’t need them in the great urban metroplex. We need them out to be productive, working in agriculture, engineering, mining.”
The interview prompted a swift intervention from One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, who reiterated the party’s hard 130,000 migration cap target.
Fellow MP Joyce said he would not throw Farley “under a bus” and said the party’s position had not changed.
“When people are new in parliament, they can sometimes get things incorrect, and that’s what happens. God knows I’ve done it enough,” Joyce said on Sunrise on Aug. 24.
“It’s 130,000 net. We’ve been saying that all along. It’s 130,000 net overseas migration.”
Farley was elected to the seat of Farrer at the 2026 by-election following the resignation of former Liberal leader Sussan Ley, a seat the Liberal-National Coalition has held since its inception in 1949.
“Show me a political career where people haven’t made, you know, made a mistake,” Joyce said.
On X, leader Hanson moved to reiterate her party’s position, saying the cuts would less from international students and dependents, and more towards temporary graduate visas and their dependents.
In addition, the reduction would be achieved via a more targeted skilled migration program, she said.
Hanson also clarified that short term-seasonal agricultural workers only come for limited periods and return home, and do not count in net overseas migration.
“Short-term seasonal agricultural workers who do not meet the ABS [Australian Bureau of Statistics] residency test are not counted in net overseas migration. They come for limited periods, often live on farms or regional properties while they work, and return home,” Hanson wrote.
“One Nation’s target is less than half Labor’s current level.
Farley’s original comments One Nation’s 130,000 figure was the “true” Net Overseas Migration (NOM) but excluded several categories including nurses and Pacific mobility workers.
In the May federal budget (pdf), Labor’s projected net overseas migration rate would to 225,000 by 2028 to 2030.
Labor’s Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy said One Nation was “not fit to govern” in response to the comments.
“We had two different figures yesterday contradicting themselves about what their actual position is,” Conroy said on ABC Radio National.
Conroy also said Labor was focused on “bringing down migration in a reasonable, appropriate way” while making sure Australia has “the skills that the economy needs.”
“What One Nation do is a question for them.”
