Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has conceded she knew about a “coup” to overthrow the boss of one of Australia’s largest land councils but denied being “involved” while giving evidence in her Federal Court defamation trial.
The former shadow Indigenous Affairs Minister is being sued by the chief executive of the Central Land Council (CLC), Lesley Turner, over a media release distributed by her office in July 2024.
The release claimed he had lost the support of fellow councillors and repeated claims made by the CLC’s then-chairman Matthew Palmer that Mr Turner had faced an unsuccessful no-confidence motion at a meeting of male council delegates.
Lesley Turner is suing Jacinta Nampijinpa Price for defamation in the Federal Court, over a media release she sent to more than 1,000 journalists. (ABC News: Dane Hirst)
On Monday, the court was shown text messages between the senator and the disgraced former principal of Yipirinya School in Alice Springs, Gavin Morris, a month prior to her release being published.
In a text to the senator, Morris said: “Hey Jacinta there is some pretty big movements about to go on at the Central Land Council which I think you should definitely know about … happy to chat when you are free.”
The senator responded: “Thanks I’ll give you a call early next week if that works?”
Mr Morris replied: “They are planning a coup and getting rid of CEO and executive they have all 90 delegates ready to go … I have met with Eva Lawler who knows about this. This will happen in five weeks.”
Eva Lawler was the Northern Territory’s chief minister at the time.
Sue Chrysanthou, acting on behalf of Les Turner, questioned Jacinta Nampijinpa Price over whether she had been “hypocritical”. (ABC News: Pete Garnish)
When asked by Mr Turner’s lawyer, Sue Chrysanthou SC, why she thought the plans for a coup were “fantastic” the senator told the court: “They were taking matters into their own hands.”
“I’ve always advocated for Aboriginal people to be able to stand on their own two feet and take control of their lives and circumstances,” Senator Nampijinpa Price said.
Earlier this month, Morris was found guilty on four counts of aggravated assault against students including choking one student, holding another in a chokehold and dragging two pupils by their ears.
Gavin Morris found guilty on four counts
Senator Nampijinpa Price said she was aware of Morris’s desire to leave the school and put himself forward as the council’s new chief executive.
The senator said she met with Morris ahead of the CLC meeting in July and he sought her advice on becoming the new CEO.
“He asked, ‘what do you think about that?’ and I said, ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea, I think the focus should be on Yipirinya’,” she told the court.
Yipirinya is an independent school for Indigenous children built in central desert of Mparntwe/Alice Springs.
Senator Nampijinpa Price said she was unaware of allegations facing the former principal despite her mother, Bess Price, being vice principal of the school.
Sue Chrysanthou SC: “Are you sure, given your mother was the vice principal you heard nothing about this?”
Senator Nampijinpa Price: “I can’t recall.”
The senator confirmed a member of her staff assisted Morris in helping draft Mr Palmer’s release prior to the publication of her own statement.
The senator denied being “involved” in the leadership coup.
Sue Chrysanthou SC: “Drafting a release … you don’t consider that participation in the coup?”
Senator Nampijinpa Price: “No.”
‘Keep hitting them hard’
The court heard that in a recorded conversation between Senator Nampijinpa Price, Mr Palmer and Morris, the senator offered advice about how to ensure the story about Mr Turner remained in the media and “didn’t slip through the cracks”.
In the conversation, Senator Nampijinpa Price told the two men “we’ve just got to keep hitting them hard” and “keep it in the media spotlight … that’s how you apply pressure”.
Gina Rinehart supports Jacinta Price’s defamation defence
In her evidence on Monday, the senator clarified the “objective” was to “apply pressure to the government to support the chairperson” who wanted a change in leadership.
After Mr Palmer’s media release was distributed to a small number of journalists on July 21, the NT News published a story stating Mr Turner had been sacked before it was promptly removed from the publication’s website following complaints from the CLC.
The court heard the senator had been notified the NT News had removed the story before authorising the distribution of her media release to more than 1,000 journalists and uploading it to her website.
Ms Chrysanthou asked Senator Nampijinpa Price about a settlement offer which she rejected before going on to launch a crowdfunding campaign to help pay for her legal costs.
While she did not reveal how much Mr Turner had been seeking in the settlement, she confirmed it would not have been enough to result in bankruptcy, which would have jeopardised her senate seat, prompting the crowdfunding campaign.
Senator Nampijinpa Price also rejected Ms Chrysanthou’s suggestion that in making a public appeal for funds she was painting herself as a “victim”.
Senator denies being ‘hypocritical’ after legal letter to CLC shown to court
Earlier on Monday, Senator Nampijinpa Price denied being “hypocritical” after it was revealed she accused the CLC of issuing a defamatory media release during the height of the Voice to Parliament debate.
The senator was questioned about a letter sent on her behalf to the CLC in May 2023.
The court heard the letter was in response to a media release the NT senator claimed made “false and maliciously defamatory” allegations about her stance on the Voice to Parliament referendum.
The land council publicly supported the “yes” vote and the senator told the court she was the “leader” of the “no” campaign at the time.
Parties, including the senator’s barrister Peter Gray SC, are expected to deliver their closing addresses on Tuesday. (ABC News: Olivana Lathouris)
The court heard the letter cited an “egregious failure” on behalf of the CLC to afford Senator Nampijinpa Price an “opportunity to refute the allegations against her”.
“Senator, it’s quite hypocritical of you to complain … about the CLC not affording you the opportunity to respond to serious allegations prior to publication and then for you, a year or so later, to do the same to my client,” Ms Chrysanthou put to the witness.
“I disagree,” Senator Nampijinpa Price said.
The senator told the court her media release occurred under “entirely different” circumstances to the 2023 CLC release.
Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price says her claim of defamation against the CLC was under different circumstances to the case against her. (ABC News: Pete Garnish)
Sue Chrysanthou SC: “The different circumstances are when it’s about you, you consider it to be unfair … but when it’s about someone when you’re defaming you just don’t care, that’s the difference isn’t it?”
Senator Nampijinpa Price: “The difference is I took my information from the chairperson from the organisation who was well within his rights to issue a media release in his role.”
The senator told the court her office “sought clarification” on the allegations contained in the release however this occurred after the release has been distributed to journalists and published on her website.
Court documents outlining Senator Nampijinpa Price’s defence state she “had a community interest” in publishing the release and “took proper steps” to “verify the accuracy of the material published by her”.