Pauline Hanson defends One Nation migrant property sell-off plan after Barnaby Joyce’s Sky News bungle

One Nation’s plan to force migrants to sell their homes has sparked a reckoning — and not everyone in the party knows what it means.

The policy left Barnaby Joyce in a tangle on Thursday night after he initially suggested a policy of forced divestment would apply to permanent residents before backtracking and saying it only applied to foreigners living overseas and temporary visa holders.

Permanent residents are not subject to the policy and currently own an estimated 400,000 Australian homes.

But an unrepentant Ms Hanson said it was time to take a tougher line with non-Australian citizens buying property.

Pauline Hanson says One Nation makes no apologies for putting Australians first. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman.

“One Nation makes no apologies for prioritising Australians first,” she said.

“If you are a temporary visa holder or a foreign citizen residing overseas, One Nation will give you two years to sell their property to an Australian.

“One Nation would remove the ability for international students, non-permanent residents, and non-Australian citizens from buying future property within Australia.”

Ms Hanson also defended Mr Joyce for backtracking and getting confused over the policy, suggesting it demonstrated honesty.

‘Go back and get an answer!

NSW senator Sean Bell also came unstuck over the question of forcing foreign owners to sell their properties in an interview on 2GB.

2GB host Mark Levy repeatedly asked in the interview if authorities would turn up to “kick them out” if they did not comply.

“No,” Senator Bell replied.

“So we believe that people need to be given the opportunity to divest, and here’s the thing, Mark, temporary residents are not here to reside permanently in Australia.

NSW Senator Sean Bell came unstuck when pressed on the finer details of the policy. Picture NewsWire / Monique Harmer

Mr Levy then described the exchange as a “trainwreck” and said he wasn’t satisfied.

“Mark, it’s very simple,” Senator Bell began. “What happens is …look, it’s a fair question to ask”

“So what’s the answer?” Mr Levy interjected.

“The answer is that this is going to be … this policy is one that is being brought forward and investigated, Mark,” Senator Bell replied.

But that set Mr Levy off again, who terminated the interviews.

“Go back and get an answer, and come back to me,” he said.

One Nation disaster as Barnaby backflips

Last night, One Nation recruit Barnaby Joyce has issued an on-air backflip over plans to evict migrants from their homes in a trainwreck interview with Sky News’ Andrew Bolt.

Mr Joyce was grilled on Pauline Hanson’s policy of not allowing permanent residents to buy homes in Australia if they are not citizens on Thursday night, before suggesting that it might involve migrants being forced to sell their homes.

But after concluding the interview, he made a series of frantic phone calls on set, before asking Mr Bolt if he could re-record a second answer to the same question.

Mr Bolt agreed, but informed him he planned to run both his initial comments and his backflip, providing some vintage trainwreck TV.

“Okay, that was the interview, and I said goodbye to Barnaby, and Barnaby sat there, and he must have thought, as I did, you know, given that nearly 400,000 permanent residents in Australia own their own home, that it seemed drastic or cruel to make them sell it in two years or become citizens, and that they’d face repossession if they didn’t comply,” Mr Bolt explained.

“And after the interview with Barnaby, something extraordinary happened.

Moments after suggesting One Nation would force non-residents to sell their homes, Barnaby Joyce returned to Sky News’ Bolt Report program with a different policy. Picture: Sky News

“He must have figured he actually had no idea what Pauline Hanson’s policy on foreign ownership of homes really was, and must have realised this was going a bit harsh.

“So, with our cameras on him, he rang two people back at the office, and one said no, the policy actually didn’t affect permanent residents, and the second senior said it did, and Barnaby left the studio.

“Minutes later, he came back and said actually there was now a change of policy. Could he record a new answer? And I agreed. Here it is.”

Sky News then ran a clip of Mr Joyce changing his mind.

“This policy is formative, but on further investigation and discussions with One Nation, no, we are not going to be kicking permanent residents out of their house,’’ Mr Joyce said.

“We want people to progress through to Australian citizenship, but that should not come at the expense of permanent residents being divested of their house. It was an issue that needed further clarity. I’ve got it, and that’s it.”

Asked who it does apply to, Mr Joyce replied that “obviously, it applies to people who are foreign citizens who are basically not permanent residents.”

It prompted host Andrew Bolt to say: ‘One Nation is literally making up policies as it goes along’. Picture: Sky News

Mr Bolt then told viewers that the bizarre on air backflip “shows a couple of things.”

“One Nation is literally making up policy as it goes along,’’ Bolt said.

“And second, Joyce initially assumed One Nation’s policy on non-citizens owning property here was the most extreme interpretation of Hanson’s ambiguous statement.

“My moral dilemma? Well, I could have played you the calls that Barnaby made in our studio to clarify things, and got a big media splash, lots of clicks, but that, of course, would be unfair to Barnaby. I had indicated our interview was over.

“On the other hand, I could have saved Barnaby embarrassment with some editing here, cutting out his first answer, replacing it with his second, and no one to know what had gone on, but then I would not have been straight with you.

“Let the chips fall where they may, and you can decide for yourself, is One Nation yet ready for government?”

Nationals leader declares Barnaby Joyce ‘a bit sad’

After the interview Nationals leader Matt Canavan, an old friend of Mr Joyce appeared on Sharri Markson’s program and said the whole thing was a mess.

“Look, it’s a bit sad for me,’’ Senator Canavan said.

“I mean, I’m good mates with Barnaby, but that was pretty tough to watch. It was tough because I don’t think Barnaby truly believes in the One Nation policy.

“So, I know him very well, and I think he knows that such a policy would be heartless and unnecessarily divisive in our community.”