Barnaby Joyce and One Nation senator Sean Bell have struggled to explain their party’s housing policy in a series of media appearances, drawing criticism from Sky News host Andrew Bolt and radio host Mark Levy. In a pre-recorded interview with Sky News on Thursday, Joyce initially stated that permanent residents would be forced to sell their homes under One Nation’s policy, before consulting colleagues and returning to clarify that this was not the case.
Bolt told viewers that the blunder showed Pauline Hanson’s party was “literally making up policy as it goes along”. Joyce later recorded a second segment, saying: “On further investigation and discussions with One Nation, no, we are not going to be kicking permanent residents out of their house.” He added that the policy would apply to “foreign citizens who are basically not permanent residents”.
On Friday morning, Hanson herself intervened, stating that One Nation’s policy would allow permanent residents to own homes but force “foreign owners” like temporary visa holders to sell properties within two years. However, Senator Bell could not explain the policy during a 2GB interview. When pressed by host Mark Levy on what would happen if the property was not sold, Bell said it was “an excellent question” but did not directly answer.
Levy cut off the interview, telling Bell: “This is turning into a trainwreck. You call back through when you get a definitive answer.” Liberal senator Jane Hume also described the episode as a “trainwreck”. One Nation’s website states: “We must stop the sale of property to non-residents and non-citizens.”
