Latest news with #SenatorPrice
News.com.au
10-05-2025
- Politics
- News.com.au
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price announces candidacy for deputy leader of Liberal Party
Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has announced she will run for the deputy Liberal Party leadership and is backing Angus Taylor for the top job just days after joining the Liberal party room. Hugely popular with the membership base and political donors, Senator Price has the right as a Country Liberal Party MP to choose which party room she sits in. Endorsing Angus Taylor's bid for the leadership, Senator Price confirmed on Sunday morning that she will run as his deputy. 'Today I announce my candidacy for Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party and my endorsement for Angus Taylor's candidacy for Leader,' Ms Price said. 'As I've said with respect to my decision to change party rooms, these are not matters which I take lightly and this decision today brings with it a great deal of responsibility which I fully accept. 'There is no question that returning to our roots as a party is critical right now. If we want to inspire and empower Australians across our country, we must return to these roots. Ms Price said the party must stand for the 'forgotten people' and 'mainstream Australians'. 'I think of my grandparents who were by no means the elite, building their first home by hand with hessian bags and washing their clothes in the creek in Warners Bay, NSW,'' she said. 'But they saw a spark, a vision of a brighter future for generations to come.' But it's her decision to run for a leadership position before she's even sat in the party room that's raised eyebrows given the deputy has an important pastoral care role 'She's perfectly entitled to put her hand up. The party room will decide that but people will have different ideas about that I think,'' Liberal Senator Dave Sharma said. Her big switch to the Liberal Party is being backed by former prime minister Tony Abbott and other conservatives. A vote on the Liberal leadership will take place in Canberra on Tuesday. 'Traitor' claim While her defection is a huge coup for the Liberals her move has enraged the Nationals who called it the act of a 'traitor.' '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 Canavan said. Senator Canavan announced on Friday that he will challenge David Littleproud for the leadership of the Nationals. '(Ms 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,'' he said. 'It's a traitorous act.' Senator Price and abortion stance Last year, senior Coalition women rebuked Jacinta 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 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 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,' he 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. Bitter factional fight as two contenders emerge A bitter factional fight has already erupted with both camps trading blows. Mr Taylor's camp assert that Sussan Ley never spoke up in the budget lock up against the treasury spokesman's disastrous decision to oppose Labor's tax cuts. She is being backed by Liberal powerbroker Alex Hawke who was also pivotal in the rise of Scott Morrison. Ms Ley's supporters assert that Mr Taylor has been an 'absolute disaster' in the economic portfolio. Who is Sussan Ley? The mother of three famously secured her pilot licence when she was 20 years old and worked briefly as an air traffic controller before joining the Australian Tax Office in Albury. She also changed the spelling of her first name to Sussan, after discovering a numerology theory and joined a punk band in her youth. More recently, she dressed as Tina Turner to raise money for a cancer charity. She was first promoted to cabinet by former Prime Minister Tony Abbott in December 2014, replacing Peter Dutton who was moved to the immigration portfolio in a cabinet reshuffle. She ultimately served as Finance Minister and Health Minister before she was forced to step aside from cabinet over an expenses scandal. During that period, Labor's famed dirt unit leaked a dossier of travel records to newspaper outlets to engineer a political crisis. Leaked emails in the book Party Animals outlined the political research unit's success in triggering two of the biggest scandals to rock the Abbott and Turnbull government which weakened Tony Abbott's leadership and also sparked a major review of travel rules. Meanwhile, prominent anti-Voice campaigner Jacinta Price 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. 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. 'I feel that we have zero economic policy to sell. I don't know what he's been doing for three years. Outgoing Liberal Senator Hollie Hughes has beef with Angus Taylor because he didn't support her preselection fight.
Daily Telegraph
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Telegraph
‘You're a nobody': Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price in hotel confrontation
Don't miss out on the headlines from National. Followed categories will be added to My News. 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 '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. Marianne Mackay, 47, a Noongar woman from Kwinana south of Perth Ms Mackay told Senator Nampijinpa Price called her a 'nobody'. '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. Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard is bundled out of a restaurant by security service agents after it was surrounded by furious Aboriginal rights protesters in Canberra on January 26, 2012. Mackay was one of the instigators. Picture: AAP / Lukas Coch 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 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. NT Senator Jacinta Price at the CLP after-party at the Alice Springs Brewing Co on the day of the federal election, May 3, 2025. Picture: Gera Kazakov '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. (FILES) Shadow minister for Indigenous Australians Jacinta Nampijinpa Price (R) and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton attend a press conference following the results of Australia's historic Indigenous rights referendum, in Brisbane on October 14, 2023. Australia holds a general election May 3, 2025, a hard-fought contest between party leaders with sharply contrasting visions for the country. (Photo by Patrick HAMILTON / AFP) '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.' Nationals Senator Matt Canavan labelled Senator Nampijinpa Price's move 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. It's been speculated Senator Nampijinpa Price could run on a ticket with Liberal Angus Taylor. Picture: NewsWire / Monique Harmer '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. Originally published as 'You're a nobody': Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price in hotel confrontation
