One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has launched a fresh attack on the Liberal Party’s internal divisions over migration, saying Australia is not “bringing in the right people”.

The Queensland senator accused moderate senator Andrew Bragg and his supporters of ignoring the anger building in communities overwhelmed by population growth.

Senator Hanson joined Sky News host Chris Kenny on Wednesday where she argued the Coalition’s mixed messages on migration showed it no longer understood the pressures faced by Australian families.

“The people are angry,” she said.

“And it doesn’t just stop with housing, it’s rental accommodation, it’s also in the hospital, the education, nursing homes, infrastructure, roads.”

Her intervention comes as the Liberal Party grapples with sharp disagreements between moderates like Senator Bragg and conservative MPs such as Andrew Hastie over whether to slash net overseas migration.

Mr Bragg has urged Liberals to resist calls for “savage cuts”, arguing in an email to supporters that migration has always been an economic driver and that Australia should take inspiration from the Menzies era.

He claims a collapse in housing supply, not migration, is the key culprit behind shortages.

But the backlash from inside and outside the party has been swift, with Nationals MPs warning the Coalition risks losing voters to One Nation if it fails to take a harder line.

Senator Hanson said the divide proved the Liberals had “no idea of finding a middle ground”, insisting the party’s moderate wing dismissed the lived experience of Australians struggling with soaring housing costs and overcrowded infrastructure.

“That tells me they’re not in tune with the grassroots Australians,” she said.

Ms Hanson rejected the idea that higher migration levels could be justified when essential services already struggle to cope.

She said current population pressures were fundamentally different to those of the post-war era Mr Bragg invoked.

Senator Andrew Bragg has urged Liberals to resist calls for “savage cuts”, arguing in an email to supporters that migration has always been an economic driver. Picture: Getty Images
“He says, well, it won’t change the matter, and he wants to go back to (Robert) Menzies,” she said.

“Well, Menzies was 70 years ago. That was just after the Second World War. It’s a totally different circumstance to what we have now.”

The debate inside the Liberal Party has intensified in recent months as net migration surged past one million under Labor since 2022, driving population growth not seen in decades.

Senator Pauline Hanson said the divide proved the Liberals had “no idea of finding a middle ground”. Photo: NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard
Senator Bragg has argued reducing migration alone will not solve Australia’s housing crisis and has called for bringing in more skilled tradespeople from overseas to address shortages in construction.

But Ms Hanson pointed to the latest intake figures to argue the migration program is being poorly targeted.

“Between 2022 and 2023, we brought in 740,000,” she said.

“Now of that, only 1,800 were in the construction industry,” she said.

“We’re not bringing the right people, we’re flooding the country, and Bragg is completely wrong here as he was with net zero.

“He should be on the Labor side of government. He should be with the Greens, not with the Liberal Party.”

Her comments echo concerns held by conservative Liberals such as Andrew Hastie, who said in his own message to supporters that “immigration is out of control” and is driving up rents and house prices.

Many in the Coalition believe the party must at least match Peter Dutton’s pledge to cut annual migration by 100,000 if it hopes to reconnect with disillusioned voters.

Ms Hanson said the overwhelming majority of Australians want migration levels reduced, and she warned that the political class has underestimated the issue’s potency.

Many in the Coalition believe the party must at least match Peter Dutton’s pledge to cut annual migration by 100,000 if it hopes to reconnect with disillusioned voters. Picture: NewsWire / John Gass
“You’ve got over 70 to 80 per cent of people saying immigration is very high,” she said, arguing that those who support higher numbers often have an incentive because “they want to bring out their own loved ones into Australia”.

She called for migration to be cut back to around 130,000 a year, insisting that only skilled workers should be prioritised and that replacement migration should match Australians leaving the country.

Her attack on Senator Bragg reflects a broader sentiment fed by record cost-of-living pressures, housing shortages and strained infrastructure.

Public opinion has shifted dramatically against high migration.

One Nation is reaping the benefit with the party tracking strongly among Gen X males – a cohort strikingly aligned with frustrations about mortgage stress, household costs and family pressures.

Ms Hanson said the support came from men “who may be in financial stress” and have concluded that One Nation is the only party acknowledging their struggles.

She said new modelling suggested One Nation could be competitive in up to 12 lower house seats if an election were held today.

“They said that we’re looking at possibly twelve lower house seats … so One Nation is doing extremely well,” she said.