One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce has ridiculed Liberal senator Andrew Bragg and his party’s “chaotic” policy processes after Opposition Leader Angus Taylor said he had pulled the senator into line for freelancing on economic and migration policy during a speech delivered this week.

Some Liberal colleagues backed the move and said Bragg’s flagellation would be short-lived, even after senior conservatives Andrew Hastie and James Paterson publicly scolded Bragg as the housing spokesman put forward a migration target that had not been put before shadow cabinet.

Speaking to this masthead on Thursday morning, Joyce said: “I didn’t realise people went to the press club to give their own personal views on policy, especially when they are in shadow cabinet. It’s just the most bizarre thing, a press club speech on the musings of the individual for a day. It was the Coalition’s own astrology column.”

The Wednesday address to the National Press Club featured calls from Bragg for an “economic revolution” and a proposition to slash the National Construction Code – the rule book for building standards –from 2000 pages to around 80, even lower than Taylor’s previous call of 200 pages.

Bragg also announced the Coalition would cut net overseas migration from 300,000 to about 180,000. Labor is preparing policies to bring the rate down to 225,000, while One Nation has campaigned on only offering 130,000 visas a year, a different measure.

While Taylor had previously announced that the Coalition would link migration numbers to housing completions, the specific number had yet to be revealed, with Bragg’s announcement subsequently dismissed by party leaders.

“Andrew expressed some of his personal views yesterday. I’ve made clear to him that his job is to express ... the views of the Coalition and the senior team of which he is a member,” Taylor said.

Appearing on 2GB radio, Hastie said the views expressed in the speech had not gone through formal policy processes and didn’t reflect the views of shadow cabinet.

“When you step out into the media, if you’re going to talk about someone else’s portfolio, you don’t make announcements. Senator Jonno Duniam, shadow minister for home affairs, is working on the migration stuff,” Hastie said.

Hastie notably quit former opposition leader Sussan Ley’s frontbench last October to be able to speak freely on migration, manufacturing and net zero. Several Liberal MPs, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said it was hypocritical for the leadership aspirant to be judging Bragg for speaking out after his own freelancing under Ley.

“He’s the last person that should be lecturing anyone about team discipline,” one MP said, while another agreed but added Hastie deserved credit for having resigned from Ley’s shadow ministry to continue to speak out.

In an extensive back-and-forth with reporters, opposition defence spokesman Paterson would not say whether Bragg was seeking to destabilise Taylor’s leadership, and added that he was not surprised by the “outspoken” senator’s conduct.

“The approach that I take in my portfolio is that if I want to get up a policy in the defence space, I have to convince my colleagues, I have to do the work, I take it through our processes, I have to consult my stakeholders, and then when I receive that support I can make an announcement and I don’t speculate about other colleagues’ portfolios,” Paterson said.

Bragg has acknowledged that he was not following party processes, but argued it was important to put out ideas to “move the debate on” and generate a hopeful political message. Mood in the party is split, with many backing the MP for pushing new ideas and injecting fresh air into the policy debate.

All Liberals that this masthead spoke to said they did not believe there would be consequences for Bragg if he stepped back in line.

“I think he’s still committed to our message, what we are pushing forward in our plan,” one conservative MP said.

“He’s just frustrated, we’re all f---ing frustrated. The policy development is excellent, but we’re frustrated with the polling,” another said, adding Bragg needed to be more creative in his portfolio before dipping into others.

“Where is your edgy shit in your portfolio? [Housing’s] the biggest issue out there for young voters. There’s a million edgy things you could be doing. Where’s the commentary on that?”

In cleanup media appearances on Thursday morning, Bragg was questioned on his plan to slash the housing rule book, conceding that low-income Australians would have to live in “substandard” homes, a proposition that was framed as being better than not having a home at all.

Housing Minister Clare O’Neil ridiculed the statement, saying: “The Liberal’s answer to housing affordability is dodgy homes for Australians on low incomes.

“The National Construction Code is Australia’s set of minimum standards for building design and construction – covering things like structural safety, fire protection, accessibility, and energy efficiency. Where are they going to pull standards from? Fire safety, ventilation or sewage?”

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Nick Newling is a federal politics reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.