Source : Perth Now news
Pauline Hanson’s proposal to force foreign owners to sell their Australian property or have it repossessed is not “going to work” amid confusion among her own MPs over One Nation’s housing policy, Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth has claimed.
The Kingston MP told Sky News on Sunday Barnaby Joyce and “other members of One Nation” could not answer key questions about the right-wing populist party’s housing platform after it was spectacularly dropped last week.
At the time, Mr Joyce said permanent residents would also be forced to divest their property – however, he backtracked only hours later, claiming One Nation’s housing policy would not, in fact, extend to permanent residents with property.
“To be honest, I think if One Nation wants to be taken seriously they’ve got to do the work,” Ms Rishworth said.
“Unfortunately, what we saw here was … One Nation being able to identify a problem, but be absolutely chaotic in what the solution could look like.”
She continued: “If One Nation wants to be taken seriously, they need to act like a serious party, just not making up things on the run, making up, really, things that just aren’t going to work.
“This is the fundamental problem with One Nation. I get why people might be looking for different options … but (One Nation) don’t necessarily have the solutions.”Ms Rishworth admitted there was “a pretty clear sign … that people are disaffected with the Liberal Party and are moving to One Nation”, without mentioning Labor.
“I’m not going to get caught up in … what is really a demarcation dispute and a pretty big argument between the Liberal Party and One Nation,” she said.
“On many issues, they are two sides of the same coin.”
She claimed One Nation had made “made excuses about why” their policies, including the housing platform, had not been costed.
Shadow treasurer Tim Wilson, for his part, told Sky News on Sunday it was “quite shocking” One Nation’s agenda was “simply to evict people from their homes and expel them out of the country”.
“(People) who are engaging in law-abiding activity and local property owners,” he said.
“It says something really distressing about their (One Nation’s) objectives in government.
“But, no one should be surprised … it seems like a very violent way to deal with people who are here paying taxes.”
However, Mr Wilson defended the Coalition’s own proposal to strip permanent residents of access to the NDIS and other welfare programs, despite many paying taxes.
“Firstly, we’ve already said that’s grandfathered, and secondly, we won’t force them to sell their homes or expel them out of this country,” he said.
“Our focus is on how we make sure that people come to Australia, they commit to Australia and they contribute to Australia, and I don’t believe it’s in the best interest of Australians, or for new Australians or migrants, to actively want to seek out welfare.”
Asked why immigration had “suddenly become a theme” for the Liberals and One Nation, and what point there was in the Coalition’s policy “other than perhaps a bit of a dog whistle”, the shadow treasurer said he did not believe everyone had to become an Australian citizen, “but believe that it’s good that people come here to meet here and contribute to the future of the country”.
Confusion reigned during the week around One Nation’s policy, with Senator Sean Bell further muddying the waters by failing to provide details on what would happen if homes were not sold within the two-year time frame by Senator Hanson, and whether the government would be able to repossess them.
“That is an excellent question, but what we’re saying, and it is perfectly reasonable to expect that homes in Australia go to Australian citizens,” he told 2GB.
Host Mark Levy cut that interview short citing a need for Senator Bell to get clarity on questions about the policy.
