Barnaby Joyce and One Nation colleague bungle details of key housing policy in ‘trainwreck’ interviews | One Nation
Barnaby Joyce and one of his One Nation colleagues struggled to detail the party’s housing policy; Joyce requested a second television appearance for this and was interrupted by Senator Sean Bell during an interview that one radio host described as a “train wreck”.
Joyce first told Sky News on Thursday that his party wanted to force permanent residents to sell their homes; then clarified the policy with colleagues and quickly came back and said it wasn’t actually their policy.
Show host Andrew Bolt, who interviewed Joyce on Thursday night, later told viewers the incompetence showed Pauline Hanson’s party was “literally making policy up as they go along.”
Hanson intervened on Friday morning, saying One Nation’s policy would allow permanent residents to own homes but force “foreign owners” such as temporary visa holders to sell their properties within two years.
But even after Hanson’s announcement, Bell was unable to explain the policy himself during an interview with 2GB. Pressed repeatedly by landlord Mark Levy about whether One Nation would seize non-resident homes if the property wasn’t sold, Bell said it was an “excellent question” but did not answer directly.
Levy ended the interview by interrupting Bell and saying “this is turning into a train wreck.”
“When you get a definitive answer, you call back and I’ll let you go and get some clarity before the situation gets worse for you,” Levy told the senator.
“You can’t go on the radio and say, ‘We’re going to give people two years to dispose of their property,’ and then say, ‘What happens if at the end of the two years they don’t sell that property?’ You can’t answer the question.”
One Nation’s “foreign ownership” policy on its website It says: “We must stop the sale of property to non-residents and non-citizens.”
On Sky on Thursday night, Bolt played a clip of Hanson telling the Senate in 2024: “We must stop foreign homeownership indefinitely. Let’s give foreign owners two years to sell so we don’t suddenly flood the market. If it doesn’t sell, the property will be repossessed by the federal government.”
In his pre-recorded interview, Bolt asked Joyce whether the policy would require Australian permanent residents to sell their homes.
Joyce did not respond directly at first, stating: “If you want indelible benefits in this regard you must be an Australian citizen.”
Bolt persisted and asked again: “Is that so? [house repossessions] Does it also apply to permanent residents?”
Joyce replied: “Yes, it is. That’s my belief in the policy. We want to ensure that you become a permanent resident… Sorry, sorry, become an Australian citizen. That will solve the problem, right? Become an Australian citizen.”
After playing the pre-recorded interview, Bolt told the audience that “something extraordinary happened” after the taping. He said Joyce had called “two people into the office” to discuss One Nation’s housing policy.
“He must have realized that Pauline Hanson had no idea what the policy on foreign hosting actually was, and he must have realized that this was going a bit harsh,” Bolt said. “He called two people from the office with our cameras still on him.” He said Joyce received two different answers.
“Barnaby left the studio. He came back minutes later and said there was now a change in policy. Could he record a new response? I agreed.”
Bolt then played a second clip in which Joyce said he wanted to provide “clarity”.
“This policy is formative,” Joyce said. “However, after further investigation and discussions with One Nation, no, we will not be evicting permanent residents.
“As this policy moves forward, we need to be absolutely sure that it doesn’t have an unnecessary side effect. The concept is pretty clear; we want people to become Australian citizens. But that shouldn’t come at the expense of permanent residents being deprived of their homes. It was an issue that needed further clarification. I get it. And that’s it.”
Bolt asked who would be subject to the policy of forced property sales, to which Joyce replied: “Obviously that basically applies to foreign citizens who are not permanent residents. And that’s your line.”
Liberal senator Jane Hume also described it as a “train wreck” when asked about Joyce’s interview on Friday.
In social media posts on Friday, Hanson said Joyce had “set the record straight” and claimed “Australians would prefer politicians to be forthcoming and do so rather than lie to avoid embarrassment”.
He said permanent residents would not be forced to sell their homes.
“Foreign owners – temporary visa holders and foreign nationals residing overseas – will be given two years to sell residential properties in Australia under the One Nation policy,” he said.
“Permanent residents are accepted to settle permanently in Australia. One Nation’s policy does not require them to sell their homes.”
Coalition leader Angus Taylor said he wanted to restrict first home buying concessions and benefit payments to citizens only. These policies were met with alarm by immigration and advocacy groups.
One Nation declined to comment further when contacted by Guardian Australia.
