Barnaby Joyce has defended his fellow One Nation MP David Farley over comments suggesting the minor party’s migration numbers would actually be close to Labor’s.

On Sunday, Farley said One Nation’s migration policy would include an extra 100,000 people annually, on top of the 130,000 it had already flagged.

The overall number would be slightly higher than the forecast 225,000 people under Labor’s policy.

His comments to ABC TV’s Insiders were soon corrected by party leader Pauline Hanson on social media. She said the policy remained to reduce net overseas migration to 130,000 people.

“One Nation’s policy is to cut net overseas migration to 130,000,” Hanson wrote.

“short-term seasonal agricultural workers who do not meet the ABS residency test are not counted in net overseas migration.”

On Monday, Joyce said Farley misspoke on migration numbers.

“There’s not going to be an extra 100 [thousand] on top of [the 130,000 NOM target],” he told Seven’s Sunrise program.

“Show me a political career where people haven’t made a mistake, and I’ll show you a person who’s not told the truth.

“I’m not going to throw anybody under a bus. When people are new in parliament, they can sometimes get things incorrect, and that’s what happens. God knows, I’ve done it enough.”

Joyce said One Nation’s policy remained at 130,000 people annually for net overseas migration.

Federal minister Pat Conroy said the different stances on policy from One Nation showed the party was incoherent on the issue.

“What we saw in the last 24 hours demonstrated why they’re not fit to govern,” he told ABC Radio.

“We’re focused on on making sure that we’ve got the right migration mix to support the Australian economy, as well supporting our long-term foreign policy objectives.”

Immigration Minister Tony Burke was set to speak at the National Press Club several weeks ago unveiling a change to Australia’s migration numbers, but the address was cancelled at the eleventh hour.

The speech was cancelled due to the policy not being signed off by cabinet amid internal disagreement.

The rise of One Nation in opinion polls has spurred a re-think on migration by Labor and the Coalition.

Conroy would not say whether the revised Labor policy would be closer to the 130,000 target of One Nation.

“I understand some in the community want answers to this yesterday, but this is a very complex area, and it’s important that we get the answer right rather than we get a fast answer,” he said.

“We need to be accurate when we’re talking about this area, given it’s subject to a lot of … debate.”

Current migration numbers are at about 301,000.

The Coalition has not flagged its own migration policy numbers, instead stating they would be tied to the number of new houses that are completed.

Opposition frontbencher Andrew Bragg raised eyebrows within the party when he suggested overseas migration be capped at 180,000 in a speech to the National Press Club, which earnt a rebuke from party leadership.

Shadow defence minister James Paterson said the comments demonstrated One Nation was “all over the shop when it comes to migration”.

“It’s very typical of One Nation. They talk a really big game when it comes to issues like migration, but they fall down on the details, and it is yet more evidence of why they’re just not fit to govern,” he told Nine’s Today show.

Coalition home affairs spokesman Jonathon Duniam said the opposition’s migration numbers would not be revealed in 2026. They will come closer to the next federal election, due by May 2028.

Duniam said the balance needed to be right.

“If we don’t have workers doing the jobs we need, if we don’t get the right skill set into our country, then we all are worse off,” he told ABC Radio.

“One Nation has zero regard for that, as evidenced by the multiple positions they’ve had on migration policy all over the last few weeks.”

-with AAP