Barnaby Joyce doubles down on Pauline Hanson's mass deportation claim - as Labor agrees on one key point

By NICHOLAS COMINO, POLITICAL REPORTER, AUSTRALIA Published: 01:12, 20 July 2026 | Updated: 01:26, 20 July 2026 Barnaby Joyce MP has doubled down on Pauline Hanson's support for mass deportations, as a senior Labor minister made the surprise admission that people living in Australia illegally should also be deported. On Sunday night's Spotlight program, Hanson said she loved the idea of mass deportations, but later clarified she was referring only to people living in Australia illegally. Asked on Sunrise how One Nation would carry out its mass deportation policy, Joyce said unlawful migrants would simply be put on planes and sent back. 'Well, as it becomes apparent that they're not supposed to be here, they'll be put on a plane and sent back to where they're supposed to be. 'What's the point of calling them illegal immigrants if you believe they're legal? What's the point of having an immigration policy if you're just going to let anybody in, whether they're legal or not.' Sunrise host Nat Barr interjected: 'Because they may have been here many, many years.' Joyce hit back: 'Well, then it's just like saying, you know, I was involved in a crime years and years ago, therefore, it's now to be forgotten.' Approximately 77,000 people are currently living in Australia as unlawful non-citizens. The vast majority are visa overstayers, including former tourists and international students who remained in the country after their visas expired. Barnaby Joyce defended One Nation's mass deportation policy, saying unlawful migrants would be put on planes and sent back Tanya Plibersek accused Joyce of hypocrisy, saying he failed to tackle unlawful migration while serving as deputy prime minister. Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek said the government was already deporting people who overstayed their visas and supported the deportation of anyone in Australia illegally.  'Everybody agrees with that,' she said. 'If you're here illegally, you should be deported, no questions asked. Barnaby was the deputy Prime Minister - there were people who were here illegally when he was deputy Prime Minister. What did he do about that them? 'As soon as we find them and when we find them, we should deport them straight away. 'And that's what we're doing. And we've actually decreased immigration by 45 per cent Barnaby recently voted against a cap on overseas student numbers. Like they say one thing and they do another. That's the problem here.' Plibersek also condemned Hanson over comments aired she made in an interview with British far-right activist Tommy Robinson, where she argued that Australia's migration problems began after the White Australia Policy was abolished. 'She's palling around with convicted criminals, she's trashing Australia overseas, and then she's saying she's all for White Australia and for mass deportations – and today apparently she's not,' Plibersek said. 'I mean, go figure.' Joyce said the party did not support reintroducing the immigration policy. Pauline Hanson claimed negatie migration issues in Australia began after the abolition of the White Australia policy 'The wind down of the White Australia policy, a very good thing, and at the start there was really no issues with it,' he said. 'But over time, we got a section of people who didn't want to assimilate with Australia, didn't work within the guardrails of Australia and therefore we started moving away from an Australian culture to having to encompass a whole range of views.' He said migrants should embrace Australian values and culture. 'We need people to come to our nation and work within the Australian guardrails,' Joyce said. The latest Newspoll, published in The Australian, shows One Nation's primary vote rose one percentage point to 30 per cent to tie with Labor, while the coalition also recorded an increase in support to 19 per cent, up from historic lows of 17 per cent.