Senior Nationals senator fails to say if Coalition’s migration plan officially costed

Nationals frontbencher Bridget McKenzie has failed to confirm if the Coalition’s controversial migration plan has been officially costed in an awkward on-air encounter with a One Nation senator.

The Coalition released its pitch to slash 650,000 temporary visas over four years this week, with Angus Taylor insisting it is “budget neutral”.

He claimed the plan’s focus on highly skilled workers would plug any loss in tax revenue because they earnt more than non-skilled workers.

However, whether it has been costed by the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) has remained unclear, with both the Opposition Leader and his deputy Jane Hume saying they have “worked closely” with the independent watchdog.

Asked about the costings murkiness during a News24 interview on Friday, Senator McKenzie again claimed the Coalition “can confidently say” its policy is budget neutral.

But she could not confirm the PBO had certified it when asked point blank by fellow interviewee, One Nation senator Sean Bell.

“Bridget, are you saying that’s been fully costed by the Parliamentary Budget Office, or is that internal costings?” he asked.

Senator McKenzie replied that she would “love to know” One Nation’s policy before saying the host “gets to ask the questions in this interview”.

But the host let Senator Bell push on, and he said he wanted to know by what standard Senator McKenzie claimed budget neutrality.

“I just want to clarify because you’re asking if we’re going to follow suit with the Coalition – I’m just trying to understand when Bridget says it’s fully costed, are these internal costings or has it been declared budget neutral by the Parliamentary Budget Office?” Senator Bell asked.

Senator McKenzie could not confirm, saying that “we’ve made very, very clear we’ve been working extremely closely with the Parliamentary Budget Office”.

She then went on to recap the visa class cuts until time ran out on the interview.

The Coalition’s migration plan proposes cutting Australia’s net intake to 100,000 for two years, lifting it to 130,000 in the third year, and then levelling it out at 160,000 in the third year.

Businesses have warned all three migration proposals from the Albanese government, the Coalition and One Nation could hurt the economy.