E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TELEVISION INTERVIEW
SUNRISE
MONDAY, 8 JUNE 2026
Topics: One Nation; Federal Budget; Housing
EDWINA BARTHOLOMEW: For their take, let's bring in Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek and One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce. Good morning to both of you. Tanya, another Monday, yet another poll that shows voters are abandoning the major parties, particularly with this one, 70% of respondents said that Australian politics is overdue for a big shake up, that the people who built this mess aren't going to fix it. How are you going to fix it, Tanya?
MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SERVICES, TANYA PLIBERSEK: Well, of course we see those polls and we get the message, which is that we need big changes in this country and that's exactly what Labor is delivering. Just in our most recent budget, our most recent budget is about the cost of living for ordinary Australians. It's about lowering taxes, five tax cuts, and it's about making sure that people can get into a home of their own. Of course, that's controversial because we're saying, yes, the housing system has been busted for people trying to buy a home of their own. It's been great for investors, but not great for people who want to buy their first home. We're changing that. It's hard, it's controversial, we're having a fight about it right now in the Parliament because it's controversial. But we get it. We know that the system has not been working. Unfortunately, One Nation's not the answer to that. One Nation is the party that says that workers should be paid less and easier to sack. One Nation's the party that's voted against every cost of living measure that we've tried to introduce as a government. They've voted against cheaper electricity, they've voted against cheaper childcare, they've voted against free TAFE. And they've got a leader who, while she's saying workers should be easier to sack and paid less, is flying around the country on Gina Rinehart's private jet. One Nation's not the answer for change. We agree this country needs to be changed so that it's fairer, so people get paid more, taxed less, they get the health and education services that they deserve. We agree with all of that. That's what we're changing. One Nation is the party that's opposing those changes.
BARTHOLOMEW: Tanya, you must concede that this most recent budget has delivered One Nation this extraordinary result. 24% support before the budget, 31% in this poll. Do you concede that?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Oh, look, I think One Nation are obviously having a moment because Australians are crying out for change. What I'm saying is that we're the party that's delivering change and it's controversial. This budget is the great example of that. We are making big changes so that ordinary young Australians can hope to put a roof over their family's head one day. For years the system has been stacked against them, it's been really hard to get into a home of your own. That's why we've done so much. That's why our 5% deposit policy has seen about 230,000 people get into a home of their own for the first time. In Barnaby's own electorate, it's about 2,500 people into a home of their own for the first time. We're making those changes right now. Pauline Hanson's been around politics for three decades and she still has got a list of complaints and no real policies for change. Barnaby has been there almost as long. He was Deputy Prime Minister of this country for three years, he couldn't manage to make those changes when he was Deputy Prime Minister and now we've got to believe that he can make those changes now.
BARTHOLOMEW: Well, Barnaby, let's get your response on that. I mean, Pauline Hanson saying the last couple of days she hasn't changed, the rest of the country's course caught up with her. But Anthony Albanese, simplistic grievance based politics, that's what he says One Nation is. Can you turn this polling into real votes at the next election?
BARNABY JOYCE: Well, once more, thank you for the talking points, Tanya. That was good. Next time just email me them.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well actually [inaudible]
JOYCE: What’s the point of me being on this show if you just talk?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Why don’t I just phone a friend?
JOYCE: Off you go.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Barnaby, I’ll just phone a friend [inaudible]
BARTHOLOMEW: No, Barnaby. [inaudible] Barnaby. Tanya, over to you Barnaby, we have given you a fair share of the interview.
JOYCE: You’re doing such a good job, keep going Tanya.
BARTHOLOMEW: No, off you go, Barnaby.
MINISTER PLIBESEK: I’ll just phone a friend like you do.
JOYCE: I don’t know where to – oh deary me. What is the point? If you're that upset, if you're that in a corner, that scratchy, then that just confirms to the listeners what trouble you're in. It just confirms to them what trouble you are in. Now the, One Nation is a reflection of the sentiment of the people. That polling is the sentiment of the people. The polling are over Labor and they're over the Coalition. Okay? And what they see with One Nation are the skill sets, even though you've got 489 support staff and the Liberal Party got 89 support staff, we have merely four with six people in the parliament and they're still giving us the polling, they're giving because they're so underwhelmed by what you do, they're underwhelmed by the fact that you lied to them before the budget and then did something completely different so they can't trust you. They feel that their life just does not change. You talk about the housing crisis. It hasn't changed under you, and to be quite frank, it didn't get much better under the Coalition. They don't believe you because they couldn't believe you before the budget. So, they don't believe your talking points Tanya. You can babble them out, they just don't believe them. And the issue we're going to have is, you know, we've got to build. One Nation's got an incredible job, but I was just looking the other day, even Tyron Whitten, he built up a business to $200 million turnover, you don't even hear about him, he's in One Nation. You've got a former CEO of both Colly Cotton and Australian Agricultural Company and big American, and a big American agricultural companies, he's in One Nation. I’m a former accountant, I’m in One Nation.
BARTHOLOMEW: Barnaby, no doubt you have some fantastic candidates and we'll hear more about them closer to the election. But talking of scratchy, there was a scratchy moment for you over the weekend. Pauline Hanson had to clean up after you when you suggested that One Nation would force permanent residents to sell homes they own to Australian citizens. Did you want to clear up that policy?
JOYCE: Sure.
BARTHOLOMEW: Because I guess to Tanya's point, when we're analysing those policies, we're finding some holes.
JOYCE: Well, the thing about that. Let's look at that. This is about the scratchiness, Okay, I made a mistake because we didn't have the policy written down and I corrected it on the same interview and all of a sudden people are febrile. Oh, we've got it, quick run out and tell B1 and B2 that the One Nation is over. I mean, if people are grasping for that, if that is the reason to change- [inaudible]
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: You didn’t have it written down.
JOYCE: You haven’t got much reason-
BARTHOLOMEW: Isn't it a bit of a worry, Barnaby, that was not written down and you're going public with the policy?
JOYCE: You haven't got much reason, you haven't got much reason to change. Okay, It's, it is that, it's not including permanent residents. So, I mean, is that it? Is that what all that excitement was about?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: So you just made it up? You didn't have it written down. You just made it up.
JOYCE: That was all that excitement was about. And so this is, you've got your answer and you, what you have is the, it's vastly more ingrained than that. People have changed, not because of an interview on Sky. People have changed because they don't trust you anymore and they don't feel their life's getting better. And they hear the talking points and they just go waffle.
BARTHOLOMEW: All right, well, let's talk about housing. 7News has a big series of interviews coming up on the major issues facing Australia. Housing obviously is one of them. We've seen that in the budget where you've just hit 28 million people, migration is a huge issue as well. Tonight the focus will be on that big Australia question. Tanya, what should our population policy be? Do you see some merit in this policy that One Nation announced over the last couple of days? Should we be a big Australia?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, no, we should be the right size Australia for our national interest, and we've seen immigration come down 45% since we came to government because we do think that the settings that were left to us by the Liberals and Nationals under their last government saw too many people coming in immediately after the COVID restrictions were lifted. The right size for Australia means that we do still have migrants, particularly to do important work. You know, if you go into any nursing home in Australia you'll find that there's a lot of people here who are on permanent visas who are looking after some of our most vulnerable older Australians. At the same time we need to be training more people here to do the jobs that we need to have done in Australia. That's why we've got our free TAFE policy. I think if you talk to Barnaby about who's picking fruit-
JOYCE: You don’t get a chance much, to be honest.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: in the rural electorates. You don't like listening to women much, do you Barnaby?
JOYCE: Oooh, oh we’re going that way.
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: I'm happy to let you have a turn and talk about your immigration policy.
JOYCE: Oh, it's about, oh of course, that's it. I'm a sexist, of course.
BARTHOLOMEW: Let's be gracious then Barnaby, you can finish us off. What do you think about Australia having a big Australia policy or what do you think should happen with our migration?
JOYCE: Well of course you've got to do a stocktake of what Australia can absorb. The Labor Party have been bringing in basically the population of Canberra each year without the houses being built, without the schools have been built, without the hospitals being built, without the roads, without even the infrastructure, the dams. They've got this pathology about building any sort of seminal infrastructure, and on top of the fact that they're basically plumbing up the coal fired power stations, so, we've got the dearest energy. People have a frustration and there's this inability to absorb and an inability of Australia to grow, it's more of an its industrial base to absorb people into a form of life that the Australian people expect. People in Australia, born in Australia of every creed and colour and gender get sick of going to a house auction and being knocked out of it by people, to be frank, who look like they've recently arrived. Now, that's, that is the right of Australians to be, especially young couples wanting to get into a house to not be forced out. And that builds a resentment so it [inaudible]-
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: They were being knocked out by investors, Barnaby. That’s why we’re changing the tax system.
JOYCE: [inaudible]
BARTHOLOMEW: And that is the debate that will continue for many, many more weeks. Five weeks after the budget, we're still having this discussion. Barnaby, thank you. Tanya, thank you to you as well. An equal opportunity to hear from both genders there.
ENDS
