Pauline Hanson has vowed to forge ahead with a legally questionable bill targeting foreign fighters and hit out at Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke’s oversight of migration policy, as the One Nation leader seeks to set the agenda for parliament’s return.
Riding a wave of high poll results, Hanson on Monday fired off a series of social media posts laying out her plan for the coming fortnight and accusing Burke and Labor of orchestrating a secret plan to bring an additional million migrants into the country over the next four years.
The party’s Protecting Australians from Foreign Terrorist Fighters Bill – its first complete policy proposal this term – will be introduced this week. However, her bill has been criticised by legal experts who say it will fail to withstand a High Court challenge.
Hanson argues that the bill will strengthen powers to cancel or refuse passports and toughen bail laws for terrorism charges. A key pillar of the bill would create a new “foreign terrorist fighter exclusion order” that the minister could ask the Federal Court to impose. The existing exclusion order regime under the minister’s control would remain.
Burke recently said the bill “would last about 30 seconds in the High Court”, while constitutional law expert Anne Twomey told this masthead that the proposal appeared to be a delaying mechanism and would achieve little in its attempt to ban foreign fighters from returning.
Despite Twomey’s criticisms, Hanson on Monday claimed that the Sydney University professor saw it as “a good piece of legislation that is robust enough to withstand a challenge in the High Court”. Twomey was contacted for comment.
Hours earlier, Hanson took to Facebook to accuse Burke of mismanaging Australia’s migration settings and lying to voters about attempts to pull back net overseas migration. The comments come after Burke abruptly delayed the announcement of the government’s migration overhaul package last week.
“They already brought in 1.5 million in four years. That’s why your rent exploded, your pay went backwards, and your kids can’t buy a home. It’s why hospitals are turning away sick people,” Hanson wrote.
Hanson’s return to parliament comes after a falling out with Seven over her appearance on an episode of the show Spotlight, which filmed her spending time with British anti-Islam extremist Tommy Robinson. She was unapologetic about her interview with Robinson, a divisive figure whose appearance on Karl Stefanovic’s podcast prompted Nine, owner of this masthead, to part ways with its morning show host.
Hanson has claimed that Seven was originally supposed to pay for the trip but pulled out, forcing One Nation to carry the cost of a $900-a-night hotel room.
She disputed reports in this masthead that the party paid for an empty room while she was on a side trip to Sicily, partially funded by her mining-billionaire benefactor Gina Rinehart, to attend a Dolce & Gabbana fashion show.
Burke’s address to the National Press Club was delayed after cabinet ministers raised questions about political backlash and unresolved financial costs. The minister is expected to provide more detail in coming days on the plan to slash net overseas migration intake to its budget forecast of 225,000 a year.
Labor is weighing up whether to rework the country’s skilled migration program, place stricter rules on working holidaymakers and family reunion visas, and slash working rights for people who overstay their visas.
One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce doubled down on Hanson’s comments on Monday, telling News24, formerly Sky News: “You meet [migrants] when you’re trying to drive a car to work. That’s why you can’t get anywhere.”
Assistant Foreign Affairs Minister Matt Thistlethwaite came to Burke’s defence on Monday, claiming the figures cited by Hanson were not correct.
“Those numbers that Pauline Hanson refers to are net overseas migration numbers, which includes Australian citizens who are living overseas and returning home. Is Pauline Hanson saying that Australians living overseas do not have the right to return home?” Thistlethwaite asked during a News24 appearance.
“The better figure is permanent migration. That we’ve set at 185,000 for the last couple of years, and we’ve met that figure. That figure is based a lot on what employers tell us they need.”
Net overseas migration – long-term arrivals into the country minus departures – peaked under Labor in September 2023 as borders reopened after the COVID pandemic, but has consistently fallen since then. Figures in the May budget showed Labor anticipated the net overseas migration rate to be 295,000 in the last financial year.
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Nick Newling is a federal politics reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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