By Ben McKay and Callum Godde

Immigration is on the tip of conservative politicians’ lips as a former Howard government minister cautions the coalition not to lurch to the right to regain voter support.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson drew an estimated 700 people to a “Put Australia First” rally in Melbourne on Sunday, where she called for immigration to be reduced until “we clean up our own backyard”.

“Since I’ve been elected to parliament in 1996, I have seen the plan to divide us as a nation with multiculturalism,” the Queensland senator told the crowd.

A counter-protest drew almost as many people as the anti-immigration rally, based on police’s crowd calculations.

State Premier Jacinta Allan clapped back at Ms Hanson’s quip that she didn’t “want to move to Victoria” and accused Ms Hanson of trying to “stoke fear and division” for political purposes.

“That sort of division is not welcome here,” she told ABC Radio on Monday.

With the coalition bleeding support to One Nation, Sussan Ley has committed to releasing the opposition’s migration principles before the end of 2025.

The Liberal leader declared issues of language and values would “form part of that conversation”.

Shadow home affairs minister Jonno Duniam has floated possible stronger tests for aspiring migrants.

The idea has attracted support from National leader David Littleproud but Amanda Vanstone, immigration and multicultural affairs minister from 2003 to 2007 under Liberal prime minister John Howard, suggested the devil would be in the detail.

“I’ve got some anxiety about those tests, but (that’s) not to say you couldn’t devise one that was effective,” she told ABC Radio on Monday.

Ms Vanstone backed Ms Ley’s move to settle basic policy principles as Australians were “divided about immigration at the moment”, but argued non-discriminatory immigration should be retained.

In mid-November, after the Liberals ditched support for net zero, potential leader-in-waiting Andrew Hastie posted on social media that he wanted to “cut Labor’s uncontrolled immigration” and the topic would be the “next big debate”.

People in the coalition and others were “jumping on the bandwagon” and the answer to the Liberals’ woes was in the centre ground, Ms Vanstone said.

“Only an idiot thinks going out to either extreme left or right … will work,” she said.

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