Outspoken Liberal Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price is being sued by the head of an Aboriginal land council over a media release he claims defamed him by implying he was unfit for the role.
The Federal Court is gearing up for a significant hearing in Darwin, scheduled to commence on Monday and span over seven days. Justice Michael Wheelahan will preside over the proceedings.
A statement of claim by Central Land Council chief executive Lesley Turner says a media release from the senator in July 2024 wrongly suggested he no longer had the support of the majority of council members.
It had been falsely reported that a no-confidence motion had been moved against Mr Turner by council members, the claim says.
The senator’s release implied Mr Turner had “behaved so unprofessionally that it warranted his dismissal” and was “unfit to continue to occupy the role of CEO”, according to the claim filed to the court.
The Northern Territory senator’s assertions were published by the NT News in an article titled, “No confidence motion against Lesley Turner defeated”, the claim says.
In a subsequent development, the newspaper issued a public apology to Mr. Turner and formally withdrew the contentious article.
In October 2024 Justice Wheelahan ordered Senator Price to pay $1500 after her legal team failed to file her defence in time to present at a hearing of the defamation matter.
Senator Price came to prominence in 2023 campaigning against a ‘yes’ vote ahead of the defeated referendum on whether to allow an Indigenous Voice to parliament.
She has long called for an audit of federally funded Indigenous organisations.
in September Senator Price was sacked from her shadow portfolios of defence industry and defence personnel for suggesting the government favoured Indian migrants because they voted Labor.
This incident led Liberal leader Sussan Ley to call for the resignation of the involved party.
