One Nation Wants Fewer Migrants. Here's What It Means
One Nation says it will cut temporary migration by more than 750,000 people over three years. The detail was published on 13 September The Guardian.
Temporary migrants are people here for a set time, such as overseas students and short-term workers. One Nation would cut student numbers. It would also cut visas for family members of skilled migrants. It says this would take temporary numbers back to 2017 levels. It says yearly net overseas migration, which is arrivals minus departures, would be 130,000.
One Nation calls this a net-negative arrivals rate for the first three years. That means more people leaving than arriving. Pauline Hanson is the leader of One Nation. Hanson says the policy would "reset Australia's immigration system".
One Nation would keep the Pacific labour mobility (Palm) scheme for farm work in place. That scheme brings in workers from Pacific islands and Timor-Leste for seasonal farm jobs. It would end the right of temporary skilled migrants to apply for visas for family members.
One Nation says people in Australia illegally would get three months to leave. Those who left in that time could still apply for visas later. One Nation says those who stayed on unlawfully after that time would face enforcement and a lifetime ban from returning.
Labor says the plan would hurt construction, health care, aged care and disability. Health Minister Mark Butler says cutting 750,000 temporary visas in three years would "kill critical industries" The Guardian.
Deputy Liberal leader Jane Hume says Hanson "plucked the number out of nowhere" and "has no modelling to back it up". The criticism is about costings and method. No competing target has been put forward by the Coalition in the material cited here.
One Nation says its 130,000-a-year cap is 570,000 a year lower than Labor's record numbers Pauline Hanson on Facebook.
On 6 September 2026, One Nation proposed a pension shake-up to boost take-home pay Reuters. A Roy Morgan survey of 5,248 people in November put One Nation support at 14% nationally, the highest since 1998 Reuters.
The broader context here is how the other sides are responding. Labor wants voters to worry about workers. It keeps naming building sites, hospitals, aged care and disability. It wants One Nation to say who would fill those shifts. The Liberals want voters to doubt the maths. They question the modelling, which lets them stand apart from Labor without backing the 750,000 figure.
In my view, the working detail matters most. Think of a bath with the tap running. The water already in the bath is different from the water coming through the tap. A cut to the stock is different from the yearly intake. The Palm exception shows where One Nation sees its regional support. Ending family visas would change Australia's offer to mobile workers. The three-month window and lifetime ban raise questions about staff, compliance and court challenges if this ever became law.
