David Farley says party wants 100,000 migrant rural workers in addition to the 130,000 migration target it considers the ‘true’ number
Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates
Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast
The One Nation MP David Farley says the minor party’s net migration target is “not too different” to Labor’s, forcing his leader to issue an urgent clarification amid rising confusion over the policy.
It is the second time Pauline Hanson has had to issue a correction after the member for Farrer seemed to contradict One Nation’s restrictive approach to immigration.
Appearing on the ABC’s Insiders program on Sunday morning, Farley argued skilled workers and backpackers were critical to keeping Australia fed, and argued they should be considered as a separate category to migration “in its true form”.
The minor rightwing party, led by Hanson, has struggled to define its migration policy, with inconsistent messaging over whether its target figure represents net overseas migration (Nom) or permanent migration.
The member for Farrer said One Nation’s Nom target remained 130,000. But he said that figure did not include skilled workers, backpackers and Pacific and Timor-Leste labour through the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (Palm) scheme.
Farley said he expected there would be room for a “minimum” 100,000 additional people in the migration target to ensure critical industries had enough workers. Those included about 40,000 Palm workers and 70,000 skilled workers, including aged care nurses.
“A minimum of 100 [thousand additional migrant workers], but the 130,000 [target] is what we call the true Nom,” he told ABC’s Insiders on Sunday.
“I think the big difference is [that] we’re focusing on: what are the skills we need as a nation, where do we need these migrants to be.
“The raw number is not too different [to the government’s], 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.”
But Hanson issued an implied rebuke to her MP on Sunday afternoon, with a post on social media insisting “One Nation’s policy is to cut net overseas migration to 130,000”.
Hanson said: “Short-term seasonal agricultural workers who do not meet the ABS residency test are not counted in net overseas migration.”
In fact, seasonal workers who live in Australia for 12 months over a 16-month period are included in the Nom.