Outspoken senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price remains a “valued member” of the coalition despite her sacking from shadow cabinet, the opposition leader says.
The Northern Territory senator was axed from the front bench by Opposition Leader Sussan Ley on Wednesday, after a week of controversy over her comments on Indian migrants.
The sacking came hours after the senator refused to endorse Ms Ley’s leadership at a press conference in Perth, where she also declined to apologise for her migration remarks.
While the senator was booted from the front bench, Ms Ley said she remains a welcome member of the party.
“Jacinta is a valued member of our Liberal Party team in our Liberal Party party room and I know (she) has contributed much in public policy and debate in this country, and will continue to do so,” she told reporters in Hobart on Thursday.
The opposition leader said a decision on the senator’s replacement in the shadow cabinet will be made in due course.
Ms Ley refused to answer questions on whether the NT senator would return to the front bench at a later stage after some Liberal colleagues said it was a matter of time before a comeback.
Senator Nampijinpa Price defected from the Nationals to sit in the Liberal party room shortly after the coalition’s election defeat in May.
Opposition finance spokesman James Paterson said the axing was disappointing, but he was confident his Senate colleague would return to a prominent position within the party.
“It was self-evidently not an edifying week for the Liberal Party and we are concerned about the way in which Indian-Australians heard that discussion and felt about that,” he told Sky News.
“Political careers are not linear any more, they have fits and starts, forward steps and back steps, and I’m confident that Jacinta will be back in a prominent role in the front bench.”
Ms Ley used the press conference to apologise to Australia’s Indian community for the senator’s comments after previously declining to issue a formal apology at a party level.
“I take this opportunity as leader of the Liberal Party to apologise to all Indian-Australians and indeed others who were hurt and distressed by the comments that were made,” she said.
“May I reaffirm my strong support for all our migrant communities, for the values that they bring to this country, for the contribution they make and for choosing to come to Australia.”
Senator Nampijinpa Price said she would continue to speak out on issues such as migration from the back bench on behalf of “millions of Australians”.
“My concern – as it is for millions of Australians – is Labor’s mass migration agenda and its ramifications,” she said in a statement.
“My concern is not migration itself – it’s the magnitude of migration.”
Deputy opposition leader Ted O’Brien said the senator had the freedom to speak out on issues, but her comments had to be dealt with and the party leader made the right decision.
“Jacinta expressed herself authentically with deep regret for what her words had meant to a lot of Indian Australians,” he told ABC TV.
“Of course, as time went on, it was very clear that stronger words were called for.”