One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has confirmed that she wants to cap immigrant arrivals at 130,000 per year, and says that would result in net overseas migration of about minus 100,000.
Ms Hanson responded to an X post on Sunday which accused One Nation of having an “insane” target despite talking tough on immigration, and clarified: “130k would be a cap on arrivals, minus all departures (230k last year for example) to arrive at the NoM.”
130k would be a cap on arrivals, minus all departures (230k last year for example) to arrive at the NoM
— Pauline Hanson 🇦🇺 (@PaulineHansonOz) March 1, 2026
“Mass migration is a huge reason why you can’t afford your mortgage, rent, groceries and are getting stuck in traffic for longer,” she said in the caption to a video posted hours earlier where she pointed out Australia’s population was already higher far than forecasts for 2050.
“There’s 4.8 million visa holders in the country right now, made up of 3 million ‘temporary’ visa holders, and 1.8 million ‘permanents’. Plus we’ve granted 1.7 million citizenships in the last ten years.
“That’s millions of homes, plus hospital beds and school places being taken up by people who aren’t Australian citizens. One Nation is the only party you can trust to tackle mass migration.”
Between July 1 2022 and June 30 2025 the Albanese Labor government allowed in a total of 1,968,000 immigrants while 696,000 left, resulting in net overseas migration of 1,273,000.
Under One Nation’s cap, assuming the same migrant departure numbers, that figure would have been -306,000 over the three financial years.
Last financial year’s natural population increase was 114,600, which has been dwarfed by net overseas migration in recent years.
Mass migration is a huge reason why you can’t afford your mortgage, rent, groceries and are getting stuck in traffic for longer.
There’s 4.8 million visa holders in the country right now, made up of 3 million ‘temporary’ visa holders, and 1.8 million ‘permanents’. Plus we’ve… pic.twitter.com/ya34z5f8sb
— Pauline Hanson 🇦🇺 (@PaulineHansonOz) March 1, 2026
According to a new study by independent property research group FoundIt, cutting net overseas migration by 100,000 per year would reduce house price growth by one or two percentage points, and provide price relief at the lower end of the market by taking pressure off rents.
FoundIt head of research Kent Lardner told realestate.com.au the major parties had been focusing on housing supply and ignoring demand caused by mass immigration since the end of the Covid.
“One thing we can control is demand from migration. It’s that simple,” he said.
“The sub-$750,000 market is the most competitive in the country. That’s where first-home buyers reliant on small deposits and investors often compete. If we ease migration, it helps that market.”
One Nation is consistently polling ahead of the Coalition, is the leading party in NSW and Victoria according to the two most recent polls, and is seen as the best party to deal with the issue of immigration.
The latest Newspoll, published in The Australian on Sunday, had One Nation steady on 27% of the primary vote, while Labor is down one point since last month to 32%, and the Coalition is up two points to 20%.
Header image: Pauline Hanson (X).
