One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce has admitted to giving a “less than perfect” answer following his on-air housing policy backflip, scoring himself “five out of 10” for the embarrassing mix-up.
The New England MP was forced to clarify remarks he made to Sky News host Andrew Bolt last Thursday, when he suggested home ownership should be restricted solely to Australian citizens. Mr Joyce returned to air shortly after the interview, clarifying One Nation would not seek to force permanent residents to sell their homes.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson later reiterated her previously signalled housing stance: excluding foreign citizens from residential property ownership and giving existing owners two years to sell.
Speaking to Sky News on Wednesday, Mr Joyce was asked what mark he would give his own political performance over the last week, on a one to 10 scale. “I know where people are coming [from] with the permanent resident issue. That, I'd mark myself maybe five out of 10,” he said.
“But I'd mark the result for One Nation much, much higher because it shows how febrile and concerned people are, you know, like, ‘oh no, Barnaby's got a question wrong he corrected in the same interview’.”
Mr Joyce was then pressed over whether One Nation was preparing for increased scrutiny amid a surge in public support for the party. “Yeah, of course. Yeah, we will, and we've got to rise to the challenge. And you expect more at times where the answer is less than perfect,” the One Nation MP replied.
Mr Joyce said One Nation only had access to a small number of research officers, adding, “we don't have the resources that the major parties do”. “But people are expecting we have to play the major party game. And that means at times I'd rather be circumspect about an answer and correct it than just hope that no one else ever checks,” he said.
Ms Hanson leapt to Mr Joyce's defence after his Sky News appearance last Thursday and said Australians “would rather see politicians be upfront”. “Barnaby Joyce corrected the record regarding One Nation’s housing policy last night. Australians would rather see politicians be upfront and do this instead of lying to avoid embarrassment,” Ms Hanson wrote in a social media post.
In another social media post that day, Ms Hanson said her party “makes no apologies for prioritising Australians first”. “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,” she wrote.
It comes amid a surge in support for One Nation, with the latest Sky News / YouGov Pulse poll showing One Nation as the most popular party in Australia. In the survey, conducted between May 26 and June 2, One Nation led the primary vote on 29 per cent, ahead of Labor on 26 per cent and the Coalition on 20 per cent.
