One Nation MP David Farley has conceded the party’s net overseas migration target would be scarcely different to the Albanese government’s once at least 100,000 foreign workers are taken into account.
Farley sought to redefine the meaning of net overseas migration (NOM) in an interview on Sunday morning, arguing there was a “true form” of the figure that differs to the way it is officially calculated.
“Well, the raw number is not too different, but the reality is, where do we need them?” Farley told the ABC’s Insiders on Sunday, a concession likely to be seized upon by One Nation’s political opponents.
“We don’t need them in the great urban metroplex. We need them out to be productive, working in agriculture, engineering, mining, etc.”
He continued: “I think the big difference is we’re focusing on what are the skills we need as a nation, where do we need these migrants to be? But the raw number is not too different [to the government’s].”
Amid confusion over its migration policy, One Nation last week clarified that its plan to cap visas was based on a net overseas migration target of 130,000 a year.
In his Insiders interview, Farley said this figure did not include a raft of key migrant categories and that these workers would add at least 100,000 people to the target.
“Well, what we’re doing is we’re focusing on the NOM in its true form, he said.
“Now, on top of the NOM, of course, we’ve got all the other programs that we run, the PALM program, which is important to my electorate of Farrer, the skilled registered aged care nurses, etc are all very important,” he said.
The Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme includes around 40,000 workers a year, he said, adding that aged care nurses would add around 70,000 a year – plus more in the engineering and mechanical fields.
Migrants are included in the official NOM figure if they stay in the country for a total of 12 months within a 16-month window.
Farley, elected in a byelection in May, said that “at a minimum” there would be 100,000 extra migrants on top of the 130,000 target “but the 130,000 is what we call the ‘true NOM’”.
The federal government’s net overseas migration target is 245,000 for 2026-27 and 225,000 for each of the following two years, around the same as Farely’s total estimate of around 230,000.
Liberal housing spokesman Andrew Bragg has nominated under 180,000 as the size of net overseas migration under a Coalition government.
During this year’s byelection, Farley broke with party policy during a candidate forum by suggesting it was “probably not” an issue if Australia’s net migration reached 306,000.
“If we’re successful in One Nation’s water policies, we’re going to need more labour, and we’re going to need more labour quickly, skilled labour,” he said.
More to come
Matthew Knott is the foreign affairs and national security correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X, Facebook or email.From our partners
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