Discriminating against non-citizens in Australia was until recent days a fringe approach - but Angus Taylor has taken the idea and run with it.
The Liberal leader, Angus Taylor, wants to block permanent residents of Australia from accessing a popular program for first home buyers, saying a government he leads would "reserve key social and economic entitlements for Australian citizens".
The plan, part of his controversial crackdown on immigration announced on Tuesday, seeks to further discriminate against permanent residents, who have rights to live in Australia indefinitely, access education and health supports like Medicare, enlist in the military, and work and pay tax.
But the idea has been gaining traction in rightwing social media circles for some time, percolating on fringe news sites before being supercharged by mainstream media coverage and a boost from Pauline Hanson - who has once again claimed credit for steering Coalition policy.
Taylor, speaking on 2GB on Tuesday, appeared to concede the media and online discussion of the 5% deposit scheme had influenced the policy announcement, saying: "I've seen those stories. It is outrageous."
Below we track how the idea exploded - evolving, in just a fortnight, from a social media controversy into policy from the alternative government and aspiring prime minister of Australia.
One Nation's policy website states: "With a crucial shortage of housing stock in Australia, we must stop the sale of property to non-residents and non-citizens." The policy has been in place for years.
Housing Australia releases statistics on 30 March about the 5% deposit scheme, saying more than 300,000 Australians had been supported by the policy, including more than 48,000 permanent residents - representing 16% of the total.
In October 2025, the Labor government had vastly expanded eligibility for the program, changing the settings to offer unlimited places, higher property price caps, and no income caps for applicants.
Permanent residents have been able to use the scheme since 2023.
The Yarn, which shares rightwing political views on Instagram and Facebook, posts images on social media on 7 April of Australian government ads, written in Arabic, promoting the 5% deposit scheme. These will later be boosted by Hanson.
The Yarn has about 13,000 followers on Facebook, and also runs community groups on the platform titled "NDIS FRAUD AUSTRALIA", "Make Australia Great Again" and "SAVE THE WEST FROM ROGUE GOVERNMENT'S" [sic].
"BREAKING: The Australian government is running Arabic-language ads promoting access to first home buyer schemes, including the 5% deposit program, which allows eligible buyers to enter the housing market with minimal upfront capital while the government guarantees part of the loan," it writes on social media.
The initial posts gain little traction: a Facebook post receives 48 likes and 16 comments, and an identical Instagram image gains 919 likes and 185 comments.
Guardian Australia analysis of Australian government advertising on Facebook found the ad had been running in Arabic since at least 24 March. Identical ads promoting the 5% deposit scheme also ran in Mandarin, Vietnamese and Korean.
The same day as The Yarn's social media posts, news.com.au - one of Australia's most popular news websites - publishes an article titled "Housing Australia says 48,000 migrant first homebuyers have used 5 per cent deposit scheme".
"Australian taxpayers have helped nearly 50,000 migrants purchase new homes since mid-2023 under a generous scheme available to non-citizens," reads the sub-heading, which does not mention until its eleventh paragraph that the number of permanent residents using the scheme is only "nearly one in five of the total".
The article links to the Housing Australia statement from 30 March, which states prominently in the headline that "over 300,000 Australians" had used the uncapped program.
The next day, Hanson posts the news.com.au article on her social media.
On X, she writes: "Your taxes are helping people who aren't Australian citizens buy a first home in Australia", claiming they were "getting into a home that should have gone to an Australian citizen".
The amount of people who can access the 5% deposit scheme is not capped.
On 11 April, Hanson reposts The Yarn’s post about government ads in Arabic.
"Your taxes are paying for ads, that aren't even in English, to put non-citizens in Australian homes. Housing should be prioritised for Australian citizens first," she writes.
In his speech at the Menzies Research Centre, Taylor says distinguishing between citizens and permanent residents "must also extend to how we allocate taxpayer-funded support", flagging more moves to "reserve" key programs away from permanent residents.
He says he is "appalled" that permanent residents - whom he describes as "non-citizens" - had been permitted to use the 5% deposit scheme.
"Such a loan scheme - financed by the Australian taxpayer - should be reserved for Australian citizens," Taylor says.
His speech ignores the fact that permanent residents are permitted to work - and therefore pay tax just like Australian citizens.
"And this is just the start, we will look at further measures to reserve key social and economic entitlements for Australian citizens, and we'll have more to say about that in due course," Taylor continues.
That night, Taylor is interviewed by Sky News host Peta Credlin, the former chief of staff to Tony Abbott, who was a major Taylor backer. Credlin appears to reference the news coverage, asking: "Are you [as] surprised [as] I was last week when I heard that ... non-Australian citizens could access that taxpayer program to get you into yourfirst home?"
Taylor replied: "Absolutely extraordinary ... It's completely unacceptable that a program like that is available to non-Australians. We'll restrict it to citizens and we'll look more broadly at government services and programs to make sure that the wrong people aren't being eligible for it."
Hanson says she has no doubt "whatsoever" that One Nation's surge in the polls had pushed the Coalition into adopting a hardline immigration policy.
After accusing the Liberals of copying her policy, Hanson goes further in attacking the 5% deposit scheme, writing on social media: "Foreigners who aren't Australian citizens shouldn't own Australian Homes."
The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, claims Taylor's policy had "nothing to do with the national interest and is entirely about sending a message to One Nation".
"Modern Australia and multicultural Australia are the same thing," he says, noting that half of Australia's doctors, 43% of its registered nurses and 28% of its construction workers were born overseas.