Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has blasted ‘corporates’ for shaming Aussies who celebrate Australia Day as fallout continues over Woolworths decision not to sell merchandise.
The annual debate over the national holiday took a heated turn last week when Woolworths dumped all Australia Day merchandise from its stores, which prompted Liberal leader Peter Dutton to call for a boycott of the chain.
Mr Dutton’s Coalition colleague Ms Nampijinpa Price told Sky News on Sunday that the public resents big businesses dictating to them.
‘Australians are… more worried about the cost of living, they don’t want to have deal with the corporates telling them… how to behave or think or feel about the country that they love,’ she said.
‘I mean this is home. They’re sick of being shamed to be proud Australians.’
Ms Nampijinpa Price was among the most prominent Aboriginal opponents of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, which was shot down in the October 14 referendum.
Coalition politician Jacinta Nampijinpa Price (pictured) has come out strongly in favour of Australia Day
Fellow No campaigner Warren Mundine agreed with Ms Price’s sentiment arguing ‘the reality is we’ve got so much to celebrate about this nation’.
‘We are one of the incredible nations that brought 26 million people from around the world, multi-coloured, multi-cultural, multi-faith,’ he said.
‘We’ve got all these amazing people in this country who have come here and I’m proud they chose Australia, to really build this country into an amazing place …
‘We’re probably the most successful multi-everything country in the world.’
Mr Mundine, however, held a different view on Australia Day just four months ago.
In September, he broke ranks with several No campaigners by calling for Australia Day to be moved from January 26 and treaties to be established with Indigenous Australians.
The former Labor political activist turned Liberal candidate also called for the recognition of Aboriginal land rights in an interview on ABC’s Insiders.
‘January 26 will always be an important day because of the fact that European countries came to Australia and set up the colonies here.
‘We can’t get away from that. But we can’t become captive of it. We have to face the facts and move on.
‘Yes, recognise history. Yes, recognise the invasion, recognise the good and bad that is in our history, but we still have to move on,’ Mr Mundine said at the time.
In the official No case pamphlet sent to voters before the referendum on October 14, Coalition MPs warned that ‘many activists are campaigning to abolish Australia Day, change our flag and other institutions and symbols important to Australians‘.
It was revealed earlier this year that more than 80 local governments nationwide have pulled the plug on January 26 citizenship ceremonies.
Mr Mundine told Daily Mail Australia that political leaders on councils across Australia were taking the country in the wrong direction.
‘We are building this bloody good country but all we get are these leadership people – especially in the Green councils – all they are doing is knocking the country,’ he said.
![Jacinta Nampijinpa Price said people are 'sick of being shamed to be proud Australians'. Two women wearing Australian flag bikinis are pictured](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/21/05/80269945-12988245-Jacinta_Nampijinpa_Price_said_people_are_sick_of_being_shamed_to-a-78_1705815751159.jpg)
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price said people are ‘sick of being shamed to be proud Australians’. Two women wearing Australian flag bikinis are pictured
‘(They say) “we’re a bunch of racists” or “we’re a nation of uneducated idiots” so I am just over it,’ he said.
Mr Mundine called this the act of ‘a mob of whingers who don’t like Australians’.
‘Let’s just bugger all these whingers off, stop wasting all this money and start celebrating this country and fix things.
‘I just want to get back to the real issues because we spend too much time on this’.