Source : Perth Now news
Barnaby Joyce has denied rumours One Nation’s first elected federal MP is on the verge of quitting the party to serve as an independent over near-irreconcilable differences with the leadership team.
David Farley won the seat of Farrer in a May by-election triggered by the resignation of former opposition leader Sussan Ley, who had quit a decades-long career in politics after being rolled in the top job.
Mr Farley’s win was a historic upset for the Coalition, which had held the seat since its inception in 1949, and proved to be One Nation’s first big test with voters following a summer of polling highs.
But Mr Farley – who pledged in his maiden speech to work with any political party trying to “make Australia stronger” – has, in recent months, publicly clashed with leader Pauline Hanson.
Last week, the Farrer MP defined One Nation’s signature immigration platform – to cut net overseas migration to 130,000 – as similar to that of Labor’s, arguing his party’s figure excluded other forms of migration.
These included temporary workers from the Pacific Islands, skilled workers, and backpackers, among others, which would add at least 100,000 people to the target, bringing One Nation’s goalpost to 230,000, not far off Labor’s target of 245,000 for 2026-27 and 225,000 for both 2027-28 and 2028-29.
The remarks prompted a rebuke from Senator Hanson and a series of failed attempts by both her and Mr Joyce to clarify the party’s position.
One Nation MP David Farley claims the party’s 130,000 migration pledge leaves room for another 100,000 workers, conceding it’s not too different from Labor’s. Speaking to the ABC, Mr Farley was quizzed on the combined figure of 230,000 people a year under the minor party, and if it wasn’t all that different to Labor’s migration intake. The Albanese government says David Farley’s numbers add up, but One Nation’s migration policy does not.
Mr Farley, in the same ABC interview, also appeared to refuse to back Senator Hanson’s promise to challenge a Federal Court ruling that she had breached section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act by telling Greens deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi to “piss off back to Pakistan” in a social media post in 2022.
Asked if he supported changing the Act, Mr Farley said: “I’m not convinced that we need to go and change anything at the moment.”
Over the weekend, The Saturday Paper reported that Mr Farley had confided in parliamentary colleagues that he was struggling to develop a working relationship with Mr Joyce, who has frequently used the Farrer MP’s status as a “new” member of parliament to justify the apparent missteps.
But Mr Joyce on Monday told ABC Radio National he was unaware of any plan for Mr Farley to exit the team.
“I had a conversation with him nearly a day or so ago, and that was completely the opposite of what he said to me,” the New England MP said.
“I mean, this is in every party, you have to go through the discussion, the process, and you know, and David is an incredibly important part of that.
“He’s incredibly competent, and you know … an asset to the party. And we want to make sure that we can we continue on with that.
“Of course the media have a lot of fun with people if they can smell blood on the water.”
Two months prior to Mr Farley’s appearance on the ABC, Senator Hanson confirmed she was forced to intervene after he reportedly planned to display three flags in his electorate office, the Australian, the Aboriginal and the Torres Strait Islander flags, contravening party policy.
Mr Farley later issued a statement that his office would only fly the Australian flag in a position “consistent with One Nation policy”.
In the lead-up to his election in May, Mr Farley’s past political allegiances came under intense scrutiny after Nine Newspapers reported he donated to and spent two years trying to join the Labor Party under Anthony Albanese.
