‘You're a nobody': Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price in hotel confrontation
Liberal Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has told an Aboriginal activist and mother of seven she is 'nobody' after the woman confronted her in the lobby of the Intercontinental Hotel in Adelaide.
The extraordinary scene unfolded in Adelaide on Thursday night as Senator Nampijinpa Price, who is tipped to run for the position of the Liberal Party's deputy leader, checked into the hotel on her way to Canberra.
As she tried to do so, she was confronted by a group of activists and protesters.
In the video, Aboriginal activist Marianne Mackay, 47, a Noongar woman from Kwinana south of Perth, shouted repeatedly at the Northern Territory Senator.
'You might be a Senator but you are not respected by your own people … your people don't love you'.
As she walks away, Senator Price tells the woman, 'you're a nobody' and 'I don't care.'
The video was first reported by The Australian newspaper's Paige Taylor. It shows Senator Nampijinpa Price checks into the hotel and continues to walk away into the hotel lifts.
'She told me I was a nobody, belittling me, yeah, it's like, I work hard for our community, like my elders,'' Ms Mackay told news.com.au.
'And I have a lot of respect for my elders and to me, the respect and the permission for my elders and my people to speak means more to me than any government labelled like her.
'Being a senator, being a senator is nothing to me. I would rather have the respect and love and permission of my people to stand up and be a voice for us than have any government.
'And so when, when I saw her there, and she said, you know that Noongars have no law and culture. So I said to her, 'Well, actually, we very strong in culture.''
Noongar is a term referring to the Aboriginal people of the south-west region of Western Australia.
During a recent visit to WA, local activists said that the person who invited Senator Nampijinpa Price to Bunbury should have contacted local Noongar Elders.
'We're not very happy how that came about it, of us being notified by media and not in person,' Ms Williams said.
'If you're coming on someone else's boundaries in different areas, the right thing by us Aboriginal people is to make sure you are welcome on that land, and not to just show up and making these decisions and actions that she is causing in our communities.'
Ms Mackay was an instigator of the 2012 protest outside The Lobby restaurant in Canberra on Australia Day 2012 that prompted police to escort Tony Abbott and Julia Gillard before Australia's first female prime minister lost her shoe in the melee.
She is now studying law at Murdoch University and is the chair of an Aboriginal health organisation.
As a Country Liberal Party member from the Northern Territory, Senator Price has the choice of whether she sits in the Nationals or the Liberals party room but her big call this week to now sit with the Liberals has caused a massive blow up.
Asked if she planned to put her hand up for the leadership team - such as running as Angus Taylor's deputy - she refused to telegraph her plans.
'Look, I'm not going to speculate on that right now,' MsSenator Nampijinpa Price told 2GB's Ben Fordham.
'This is a huge step that I have undertaken. I've been welcomed by Sussan Ley to the Liberal Party room, which I'm very grateful for.
'All kind of speculation is running rife.'
But when asked whether she would one day consider leading the Liberal Party, Senator Nampijinpa Price refused to rule it out.
'Well, that's a huge ask, a massive ask,'' she said.
'I certainly need to learn the ropes. Each day, the step that I take is looking at how do we espouse Australian values...and what is it the Australian people need and are asking for.'
Senator Nampijinpa Price said she spoke to her party president, National Party senate colleagues and Nationals leader David Littleproud, before the move.
'I wanted to do it in a respectful way,' she said. 'So I did speak to my colleagues. I even spoke to Sussan Ley as well.'
Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott has strongly backed the move.
'He's explained to me that he supports that move. Tony has always been encouraging and supportive of me and of my mother,' she said.
'But to those who want to suggest he's running the show...'' Senator Price started before insisting that was not the case.
Jacinta Price emerges as shock candidate for deputy
The prominent anti-Voice campaigner dropped a bombshell on Thursday revealing that she will move to sit with the Liberal Party in an effort to 'rebuild' the party after a blustering election loss.
'I am eager to fight for the best interests of all Australians as part of the Coalition,' Senator Nampijinpa Price said in a statement.
'I believe I will be more effective in this regard if I am a member of the Liberal Party, especially as the party faces a significant rebuild after Saturday.
'I want to bring back our core values of liberty, individual freedom and responsibility, the rule of law, free market and economic prosperity, minimal government intervention, a fair go and most of all, love for our nation, Australia.'
As a Country Liberal senator from the Northern Territory, she has the choice whether to sit in the party room of the Liberal Party of the Coalition partner the Nationals.
Traitor attack
While her defection is a huge coup for the Liberals her move has enraged the Nationals who called it the act of a 'traitor'.
The Nationals are already set to lose their deputy leader Perin Davey after the election result and the defection could mean the party loses its 'major party status' in the Senate.
'By doing this Jacinta is the Lidia Thorpe of the Coalition … before the votes are even counted, she's switched to another side,' Nationals Senator Matt Canavan told The Daily Telegraph.
'(Senator Nampijinpa Price) has disenfranchised the voter, disappointed the members of the Country Liberal Party, she used Nationals Party funds to elect herself and before she's even elected she's turned around.
'It's a traitorous act.'
While it isn't clear yet she is running on a ticket with Liberal Angus Taylor, Mr Taylor quickly moved to note he was 'delighted' by Senator Nampijinpa Price's decision describing her as a 'tireless advocate for Liberal values and a good friend'.
'Jacinta will be another strong voice at a time the Liberal Party must rebuild,' he posted on Twitter.
Senator Price and abortion stance
Last year, senior Coalition women rebuked Senator Nampijinpa Price's comments about abortion after she suggested she cannot support any abortion over 12 weeks of gestation.
Sussan Ley, Jane Hume and Bridget McKenzie – three of the most senior female members of the Liberal and National parties – warned that a 'Coalition government has no plans, no policy and no interest in unwinding women's reproductive rights'.
Senator Nampijinpa Price has told the Nine newspapers she 'cannot agree' with later term abortions, which she claimed was 'anywhere past the (first) trimester as far as I'm concerned … Full-term becomes infanticide'.
Liberal MPs welcome Senator Price
Moments following her statement, prominent Liberal senator James Paterson, who is regarded as an ally of Mr Taylor in the leadership tussle, welcomed the switch.
'Delighted by friend @jacintanampijinpa has joined the @liberalaus. Welcome home Jacinta!' he posted on Instagram.
But the decision has clearly angered Nationals Leader David Littleproud.
'The Nationals negotiated an extra position in the Shadow Cabinet before the election, to give Senator Nampijinpa Price a promotion and Shadow Ministerial opportunity,' Mr Littleproud said.
'The Nationals were the first to lead the 'No' case in relation to the Voice, backing Senator Nampijinpa Price early and before anyone else did.
'I appreciate Senator Nampijinpa Price has ambition that extends beyond the possibilities of The Nationals and I wish her well.
'The Liberals will need to rebuild after Saturday's election and Senator Nampijinpa Price will play a key role in that recovery, while The Nationals are proud to have kept all of our Lower House seats.'
Co-ordinated attacks on Angus Taylor
The fight between Ms Ley and Liberal Party treasury spokesman Angus Taylor erupted on election night with her supporters slamming him as 'an absolute disaster'.
While the contest in theory isn't a factional fight, Mr Taylor is associated with the right faction and Ms Ley the Centre Right led by powerbroker Alex Hawke.
Mr Taylor, though, may have a harder time, with one colleague blasting his performance as the opposition's numbers man.
'I have concerns about his capability,' Liberal senator Hollie Hughes told the ABC on Monday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
31 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Closing Bell: ASX crawls to the finish after touching new intraday high, up just 0.06pc
ASX sets new intraday high at 8639 points before sliding to 8598 Normalising US-China relations undercut gold, rare earth and uranium stocks Despite all that, ASX 200 Resources index gains 0.67pc The ASX had a very strong start to the day, rocketing up almost 0.5% in the first hour of trade. Unfortunately, it was pretty much all downhill from there. While the Aussie market managed to keep momentum just long enough to stay in positive territory, the bourse is up just 4.9 points or 0.06%. That puts us 0.54% off the 52-week average high, a range we've been hovering around for about a week now. Looking at the sectors, real estate, energy and materials made the biggest moves. Info tech and healthcare both dragged. Neither the Banks index nor Gold index were shown much love today, both in the negative alongside the All Tech. The ASX 200 Resources index was more of a bright spot, lifting 0.67% despite some geopolitical headwinds for several commodities. US-China trade deal moves toward final approval While details are thin, as of about midday AEST Chinese and US officials have agreed to a trade war truce. Reuters reports the two countries have agreed on a framework to remove export restrictions and boost trade volumes after a torrid four-month saga of retaliatory tariffs and general mudslinging. "We have reached a framework to implement the Geneva consensus and the call between the two presidents," US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said. "The idea is we're going to go back and speak to President Trump and make sure he approves it. They're going to go back and speak to President Xi and make sure he approves it, and if that is approved, we will then implement the framework." While good news for the general health of the global economy, it's taken the wind out of ASX resource stock sails, particularly gold, rare earths and uranium miners and explorers. Many were angling to become the new strategic sources of energy and critical minerals outside of China, but that's looking less necessary now. ASX resources stocks in the dumps Taking a look at our rare earths stocks, Lynas Rare Earths (ASX:LYC) has slumped more than 7%, joined by several of its small cap cousins. Arafura (ASX:ARU) has also shed 7%, while Northern Minerals (ASX:NTU) is down 5.8%, Dateline Resources (ASX:DTR) 20% and Eclipse Metals (ASX:EPM) 12%. Gold stocks are faring a little better. Mid cap Perseus Mining (ASX:PRU) has slipped 5% after releasing a five year production outlook. Fellow midcap Ramelius Resources (ASX:RMS) is down just 1.9%. On the other hand, some small cap gold stocks are struggling. Iceni Gold (ASX:ICL) has shed 16%, Solstice Minerals (ASX:SLS) 7% and Gorilla Gold Mines (ASX:GG8) 11%. Uranium stocks are taking a little less heat, ironically. Paladin Energy (ASX:PDN) is down 3.2%, Boss Energy (ASX:BOE) 2% and Deep Yellow (ASX:DYL) 2.7%. Bannerman Energy (ASX:BMN) has slumped 9.5%, however, and Lotus Resources (ASX:LOT) has slipped 7%. Despite all that the materials sector is very much in the green today, up 0.63%, with plenty of resource companies making strong gains. Look no further than our Small Cap Leaders table for the day for examples… ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS Today's best performing small cap stocks: Security Name Last % Change Volume Market Cap RAN Range International 0.0015 50% 17142 $939,290 PLY Playside Studios 0.21 45% 2923235 $59,337,210 KGD Kula Gold Limited 0.01 43% 17524286 $6,448,776 REZ Resourc & En Grp Ltd 0.018 38% 898234 $8,731,309 SLA Solara Minerals 0.195 26% 694247 $8,987,648 AAU Antilles Gold Ltd 0.005 25% 605718 $9,245,471 CTN Catalina Resources 0.005 25% 27442520 $9,704,076 MEM Memphasys Ltd 0.005 25% 1850532 $7,934,392 OVT Ovanti Limited 0.0025 25% 1300174 $5,587,030 ROG Red Sky Energy. 0.005 25% 8341400 $21,688,909 OLY Olympio Metals Ltd 0.036 24% 25625 $2,553,952 HFR Highfield Res Ltd 0.155 24% 439824 $59,259,630 DAL Dalaroometalsltd 0.042 24% 2253388 $8,464,365 ATG Articore Group Ltd 0.225 22% 155114 $52,676,230 ADG Adelong Gold Limited 0.006 20% 802466 $10,343,383 ALY Alchemy Resource Ltd 0.006 20% 200000 $5,890,381 BLZ Blaze Minerals Ltd 0.003 20% 16939864 $3,917,370 GLL Galilee Energy Ltd 0.006 20% 200000 $3,535,964 ICG Inca Minerals Ltd 0.006 20% 3043331 $7,881,950 RDN Raiden Resources Ltd 0.006 20% 10880428 $17,254,457 TON Triton Min Ltd 0.006 20% 200000 $7,841,944 NSB Neuroscientific 0.067 20% 872198 $8,097,873 HTM High-Tech Metals Ltd 0.23 18% 137280 $10,763,210 SIO Simonds Grp Ltd 0.165 18% 69553 $50,386,903 CCM Cadoux Limited 0.035 17% 601741 $11,127,528 Making news… Blaze Minerals (ASX:BLZ) is turning heads after hitting gallium and rubidium mineralisation at its Ntungamo project in Uganda. While the mineralisation isn't particularly high grade in this first pass of drilling, the price of gallium has surged 23% since January last year, marking the critical mineral as a lucrative exploration target. BLZ's drilling also encountered scandium mineralisation, but no neodymium or praseodymium of any economic significance. Olympio Metals (ASX:OLY) has locked in a 38-hole drilling program at the Bousquet gold project after nabbing the necessary drilling approvals. The company is particularly interested in investigating the Paquin gold prospect, which has already offered up a promising drill result of 9m at 16.96 g/t gold. The project sits on the incredibly fertile Cadillac Break formation, home to gold resources exceeding 110Moz gold. ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS Today's worst performing small cap stocks: Security Name Last % Change Volume Market Cap DGR DGR Global Ltd 0.003 -40% 6327345 $5,218,480 FHS Freehill Mining Ltd. 0.005 -38% 5297011 $25,868,222 BMO Bastion Minerals 0.002 -33% 66886718 $2,710,883 PAB Patrys Limited 0.001 -33% 43052603 $3,086,171 SFG Seafarms Group Ltd 0.001 -33% 1880561 $7,254,899 G50 G50Corp Ltd 0.14 -26% 2354159 $30,513,555 RDS Redstone Resources 0.003 -25% 971324 $4,137,069 SP8 Streamplay Studio 0.007 -22% 2727401 $11,532,281 VPR Voltgroupltd 0.145 -22% 219023 $19,825,007 GAS State GAS Limited 0.019 -21% 631079 $9,422,421 W2V Way2Vatltd 0.006 -20% 600000 $10,596,436 CZN Corazon Ltd 0.002 -20% 550949 $2,961,431 MGU Magnum Mining & Exp 0.004 -20% 10853500 $5,608,254 MRD Mount Ridley Mines 0.002 -20% 292846 $1,946,223 SKK Stakk Limited 0.004 -20% 52435 $10,375,398 TYX Tyranna Res Ltd 0.004 -20% 1119997 $16,442,127 VRC Volt Resources Ltd 0.004 -20% 2771856 $23,423,890 FCT Firstwave Cloud Tech 0.013 -19% 911424 $27,416,299 RAS Ragusa Minerals Ltd 0.013 -19% 351938 $2,281,581 CKA Cokal Ltd 0.03 -17% 1590245 $38,842,163 ICE Icetana Limited 0.025 -17% 1569979 $13,144,280 ANR Anatara Ls Ltd 0.005 -17% 290750 $1,280,302 GGE Grand Gulf Energy 0.0025 -17% 1516666 $8,461,275 LIT Livium Ltd 0.01 -17% 13819883 $20,286,085 OLH Oldfields Holdings 0.02 -17% 347666 $5,113,419 G50 Corp's (ASX:G50) has also released a gallium-based announcement, although the market wasn't quite as impressed with the results as in BLZ's case. While G50's mineralogy study has confirmed the presence of gallium in three types of mineral samples at its Golconda gold-silver-zinc project, the content is fairly low, represented in just 38% of the host rock. The mineral type with the best gallium content of 55 parts per million accounts for just 7% of the rock content, meaning G50 will need to extract and concentrate the critical mineral before it can be sold on to off takers. Freehill Mining (ASX:FHS) has taken another step to expand its aggregate materials business in Chile, selecting a third site in the La Serena region. Investors seem unimpressed with the company's cash generating efforts, which are focused on providing construction materials to local customers to fund development of the Yerbas Buenas magnetite mine. A new resource estimate for the ICE copper-gold project wasn't enough to wow Bastion Minerals (ASX:BMO) shareholders. The new JORC estimate confirmed the volume of the historical estimate at 5.76Mt at 1.09% copper. Perhaps investors were hoping for a little more. Management says they've got plenty of reason to hope, as most exploration on the project has been concentrated around the ICE deposit. BMO reckons there's potential for more in 11 targets, which have had no follow up investigation as yet. TRADING HALTS IN CASE YOU MISSED IT St George Mining (ASX:SGQ) Araxá rare earths and niobium play in Brazil.
ABC News
41 minutes ago
- ABC News
Moira Deeming offers to delay John Pesutto bankruptcy proceedings for preselection guarantee
Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming has offered to delay bankruptcy proceedings against former opposition leader John Pesutto if the party bypasses its rules and guarantees her preselection for next year's state election. Mr Pesutto tried to expel Ms Deeming, an outspoken first-term MP, over her attendance at an anti-trans-right rally in March 2023. The event, entitled Let Women Speak and categorised by supporters as a women's rights event, was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis. But Mr Pesutto's expulsion attempts backfired, and the Federal Court ultimately found he had defamed Ms Deeming on multiple occasions by conveying that she associated with neo-Nazis. Earlier this year, the court ordered Mr Pesutto pay Ms Deeming $2.3 million in legal costs, which he cannot afford. Lawyers for Ms Deeming have begun bankruptcy proceedings against the Hawthorn MP. He has less than three weeks to stump up the money or he'll be expelled from parliament. As part of his efforts to avoid bankruptcy, Mr Pesutto and his backers have approached the Liberal Party to provide a loan. While the proposal is still in development, it has growing support, with many Liberals keen to avoid a by-election in Hawthorn that would be triggered if Mr Pesutto declared bankruptcy. The fracas has derailed Opposition Leader Brad Battin's attempts to present the Coalition as an alternative government and is the latest front in a long-running internal factional fight. Ms Deeming and her supporters do not believe the party should be using members' money to assist Mr Pesutto. On Monday, Ms Deeming wrote to Mr Pesutto, Mr Battin and party officials outlining a proposal to withdraw the bankruptcy proceedings if her conditions were met, including the party guaranteeing her preselection. It's understood a challenge on her preselection has been prepared by local members and has a strong chance of succeeding. Ms Deeming asked the party to endorse by "special resolution however described in constitutional terms so that I enjoy the right to serve my community without any internal distractions, which is something denied to me to date". She also wanted Mr Pesutto to pay all the available funds he has, which she believes is $750,000, and that the remainder of his debt be deferred until March 30, 2027 to "give him sufficient time to secure the necessary funds and avoid bankruptcy". Ms Deeming also wanted the Liberal Party, through Mr Battin, to provide her and her family an "unreserved written and public apology for the way I have been treated, for the imputations against my reputations, and that all the false allegations and defamatory slurs directed towards me are rejected". Her other demands included all parties drawing a line under events and focusing on the election. "It is because of the extraordinary support that I have received from rank-and-file members that I make this offer with the intention that the funds they have raised to fight the Labor Party remain solely directed to that important objective,'' she wrote. The offer was expected to expire at 5pm on Wednesday. Liberal sources said the offer has gone down like a lead balloon, with one source labelling it "preposterous". "It hasn't sparked much interest at all,'' one senior party figure said. Others are enraged that Ms Deeming is trying to override the party's preselection processes. Mr Battin has been contacted for comment. Both Ms Deeming and Mr Pesutto declined to comment.
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
'I am premier': Jeremy Rockliff defends not standing down from Tasmania's top job
Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff is asked by journalists why he's pursuing an election rather than standing down as Liberal leader
