Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has defected to the Liberal Party from the Nationals and is expected to seek a senior role.
‘I am eager to fight for the best interests of all Australians as part of the Coalition,’ she 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.
‘A rebuild I feel obliged to play a robust part in.
‘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.’
Senator Price is a member of the Country Liberal Party and is entitled to select her party room in Canberra.
During her first term from 2022 to 2025, she chose the Nationals – but will shift to the Liberals after the election.
Reports suggest she will join conservative Angus Taylor’s camp in the fight for the party’s leadership against the more moderate Sussan Ley.
Price became the face of the No campaign against the Indigenous Voice to Parliament and became a favourite in the party’s conservative wing.
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has defected to the Liberal Party from the Nationals and is seeking a senior role
Earlier in the election campaign, many Australians said she was Prime Minister material after she gave an insightful perspective on the Australia Day debate
Earlier in the election campaign, many Aussies said Price had leadership potential after she shared her perspective on the Australia Day debate.
‘Our country is strongest when we stand together,’ she wrote in an opinion piece.
‘As my Indigenous heritage taught me, we all belong to this place equally. Regardless of race or heritage, your conception on this land means you belong to it.
‘Everyone gets the opportunity to pitch in to this place we call home, and gets the loyalty of mateship in faithful return.
But during the election campaign she sparked controversy when she promised to ‘Make Australia Great Again’ – just as Peter Dutton was trying to distance himself as much as he could from Donald Trump.
On election night, Price unleashed during an interview with ABC star Sarah Ferguson after she was asked if she was the reason the Coalition lost.
‘Jacinta, Peter Dutton has lost his seat,’ Ferguson said on Saturday night.
‘With your embrace of Donald Trump, Make Australia Great Again, are you part of that loss?’
A seething Price immediately blamed Labor for capitalising on her mistake.
On election night, Senator Price unleashed during an interview with ABC star Sarah Ferguson after she was asked if she was the reason the Coalition lost
‘If you swing enough mud in an election, it sticks,’ she responded.
‘We did see a Prime Minister who absolutely mislead the Australian people all the way through and was rarely called out for his conduct. I think it is deceitful.’
Ferguson and Price then proceeded to talk over one another in a heated exchange, before the ABC host pleaded: ‘Let’s just talk about this sensibly, Jacinta.’
Price vented her frustration before insisting Trump did not own the copyright on making things great again.
‘Can I just say, in terms of wanting this country to be great: Donald Trump doesn’t own those four words,’ Price said.
‘The media can go through your personal Facebook photos, and find a picture that was taken, in jest, at Christmas time, and then smear you with it, that is the problem.’
She is, of course, referring to a picture of her wearing a MAGA hat alongside a man in a MAGA Santa hat, which emerged after her ‘Make Australia Great Again’ gaffe.
She made the gaffe at a bowling club in Perth on April 12, just as the Coalition was trying to distance itself from the American leader in the wake of his imposition of tariffs on Australia.
Senator Price was introducing Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, who was also at the luncheon, when she evoked the polarising US President.
‘[The Liberal party will] ensure that we can make Australia great again, that we can bring Australia back to its former glory, that we can get Australia back on track,’ she said.
Her words were immediately seized on by Labor, and the comment was widely reported.
Labor’s campaign spokesperson Jason Clare said the Coalition ‘just want to import US polices and US slogans to Australia’.
