As One Nation rises by recycling anti-immigration rhetoric, both major parties are fumbling their response – missing the chance to offer a clear, credible and principled long-term plan.

As Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party rises in the polls by copying anti-immigration ideas used by Nigel Farage in the UK and Donald Trump in the US, politicians in our major parties struggle with how to respond. Their fumbling with immigration policy seems to just further fuel One Nation.

It’s not that Hanson has come up with anything particularly new. Her maiden speech in 1996 set out very clearly who she is and what she believes in – she is unabashedly anti-immigration, particularly from certain parts of the world. That remains unchanged, as does the fact she has zero policy nous and an inability to manage the constantly revolving door of oddball politicians who join and leave her party. But it is her constancy that may be attracting so many Australians to One Nation.

In the lead up to the last Federal Election, Peter Dutton thought he could ride the anti-immigration train to the Lodge forcing Hanson to use ever more extreme language. Using various dog whistling tactics, Dutton was aiming to copy Donald Trump until it became clear that was not working in Australia.

Dutton and his Shadow Immigration Spokesperson Dan Tehan came under intense pressure to explain their targets for cutting the permanent migration program (from 185,000 to 140,000) and for net migration (from a forecast of 260,000 in 2025-26 to 160,000). Both were unable to explain their policies as they ruled out more and more visa........

© Pearls and Irritations