Barnaby Joyce claims people who ‘look like’ recent arrivals dominate auctions. Who is he talking about? | Housing
One Nation’s Barnaby Joyce claimed “people who appear to have just arrived” were shutting Australian buyers out of house auctions, despite tax office data showing less than 1% of homes are being bought by foreigners.
The federal racial discrimination commissioner later warned against the “demonization of immigrants” in the debate over housing affordability.
Existing property laws, expanded by Labor in last month’s budget, ban non-residents from buying most types of property in Australia and require foreign buyers to apply to the tax office for approval.
In an interview on Channel Seven’s Sunrise program on Monday, Member for New England Joyce called for a more sustainable immigration policy in Australia.
“People born in Australia, of all faiths, colours, and genders, are fed up with going to a house auction and being singled out by people who, frankly, look like they’ve just arrived,” Joyce said.
Labor Minister Tanya Plibersek, who appeared with Joyce on the TV panel, responded: “They were being knocked out by investors, Barnaby. That’s why we’re changing the tax system.”
Federal racial discrimination commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman said discussions about immigration and housing were legitimate but “the problem is that immigrants are blamed and certain types are singled out.”
“We need to be able to have a nuanced and thoughtful debate about immigration without demonizing immigrants,” he told Guardian Australia.
Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute chief executive Michael Fotheringham said the statistics did not support Joyce’s claim.
“The number of residents who do not own property is very small,” he said.
Less than 1% of purchases
Australian Taxation Office statistics It shows that the number of Australian homes acquired by foreign individuals in 2024-25 is just 0.5% of all property acquisitions, or 2,672 out of 540,439.
In 2023-24, foreign purchases accounted for 0.8% of all property purchases, or 4,092 of 525,039; In 2022-23, that number was 0.9%, or 4,463 of 476,136.
In 2024-25, 1,951 vacant lands were also purchased by foreigners; 2,173 in 2023-24 and 897 in 2022-23.
“It’s less than 1%, it’s an insignificant number,” Fotheringham said of foreign home purchases.
“For new residents, even if you have to stay in Australia a little longer before you can make a purchase, the numbers are temporarily small… it’s not even an immediate blip, it doesn’t make a meaningful impact on the market.”
Foreign purchase ban extended
Australia bans foreigners from buying Australian resident housing but allows foreign residents to buy “a new or near-new residence, an established residence for redevelopment, an off-plan property” [and] vacant residential land”.
New and off-plan properties are not usually sold by auction.
The tax office states: “If you are a foreigner, you must apply for approval from the Australian Taxation Office before purchasing a property in Australia.”
Labor May budget extended The “temporary ban on the purchase of established housing from abroad” until June 30, 2029 expands the scope of the rules that came into force in April 2025.
“Extending the ban will mean Australians will be able to buy homes that would otherwise be purchased by foreigners, while encouraging foreigners to increase Australia’s housing supply,” the budget documents said.
Abul Rizvi, former deputy secretary of the immigration department and immigration policy expert, said current rules prevented most foreign residents from buying property in Australia.
“If you go to auction and bid on an existing property, the sales process has to go through Firb. [Foreign Investment Review Board] “They were saying, ‘You are entering temporarily, this is an existing residence, you are not allowed to buy it,'” he said.
“If you are judging an auction as a spectator, this may not be true. [way] To evaluate the market.”
Policy ‘unwritten’
One Nation’s foreign ownership policy came under ridicule last week when Joyce was forced to ask for a renewal of his Sky News interview after he wrongly said his party would force permanent residents to sell their homes.
After consulting with colleagues, he said the policy would apply only to non-residents.
Joyce’s colleague Sean Bell, who failed to explain the policy clearly in subsequent interviews, later announced that One Nation would force “foreigners and temporary visa holders” to sell their homes within two years or face huge fines or prison time.
On Monday, Joyce downplayed his mistake.
“I made a mistake because we didn’t write the policy and I corrected it in the same interview and all of a sudden people were hot,” he said.
Plibersek mocked the episode, saying: “So you made this up? You didn’t print it. Did you just make it up?”
One Nation’s “foreign ownership” policy on its website It says: “We must stop the sale of property to non-residents and non-citizens.”
Joyce has been contacted for comment.
