Liberal MP Alex Hawke has called on Jacinta Nampijinpa Price to apologise for the “real damage” her comments have caused the Indian community as the fallout continues internally and externally for the party.
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, has come under pressure to repair ties with the diaspora group following Price’s comments on Indian migration. She met with community leaders in Sydney’s so-called “little India” on Sunday.
Price has so far refused to apologise for her words. Appearing on ABC’s Insiders on Sunday, Ley also refused to apologise on behalf of the Northern Territory senator and the Liberal party.
On Sunday, Price accused Hawke of berating a member of her staff shortly after she had appeared on the ABC on Wednesday. In a social media post, she alleged Hawke told her staff that she “may end up like another female member of the Coalition” if the senator did not comply with his requests.
Hawke, who was a key backer of Ley’s leadership tilt, and was elevated to the frontbench in her ministry reshuffle, rejected the assertion. He told Sky News he had been trying to directly reach Price to convince her to immediately apologise.
“All I said to Jacinta was ‘would you consider apologising to the community for making a mistake about the remarks’,” he said.
“After those fliers we saw before the anti-immigration rallies, which singled out the Indian community, this was a particularly bad week for these comments.”
Hawke skirted questions about what he’d said to Price’s staff, and he denied the conversation, which he said lasted no more than two minutes, had anything to do with gender.
“I was of the view an apology would fix this. I was of the view that an apology would fix it quickly because she didn’t mean it. I said to her, I don’t think you’re a racist person,” he said.
“I’ve looked at the damage in the community and there is real damage now on both sides.”
On the ABC last Wednesday, Price had claimed without evidence the federal government was bringing in migrants to win votes, and named the “Indian community” as an example of that.
Hume, who was reported to be the other “female member” in question, told Sky News on Monday that she was reeling from the apparent reference in Hawke’s comment to Price.
“I’m still reeling a little bit … I’m not entirely sure what this is all about and why my name needs to be included.
“Look, I would hope that the Liberal party has moved on from some of the bad behaviour in the past but that’s going to be up to the leader [Ley] to demonstrate what behaviour and standards she expects of the people that work around her.”
Hume was sent to the backbench by Ley after the election.
Hawke said Hume was not the subject of his comments.
“No, Jane isn’t involved into this and I wouldn’t drag her into it,” he said.
“I’ve raised the immigration issue and I’ve raised the race issue. I can’t see how it has a gender perspective.”
Hawke was one of several voices calling on Price to apologise on MondayBarnaby Joyce also told the senator to apologise in order to move on from the issue.
However, Joyce still backed Price’s point that migration was out of control.
“You make mistakes in politics all the time and the best thing to do is apologise and move on and get off it, get onto another topic,” he told Channel 7. “It’s just the nature of politics.”