Jacinta Price declares ‘I’m back, baby’ after being thrown ‘under the bus’

Maverick MP Jacinta Price has declared herself “back baby” after months of being sidelined for her comments on Indian immigration.

The senator was demoted from the shadow ministry last year by then-Liberal leader Sussan Ley over comments that she had allowed Labor to boost the vote of higher-level Indian immigrants.

He later retracted his statement but did not apologize.

After rising to prominence as the spearhead of the coalition’s “no” campaign, he has largely sat on the sidelines since his demotion.

And days after Angus Taylor unseated Ley as Liberal leader, he appeared on the Karl Stefanovic Show and declared: “I’m back, baby. I’m back. Don’t worry about it. I’m back.”

“I was breathing hard, but I came back.”

He used his appearance to hit out at Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for what he described as a failure to root out anti-Semitism during the Bondi attack in December.

“What we need is for our Prime Minister to step in decisively and draw a line in the sand and say, ‘We are not treating any group of Australians the way the protesters celebrating what happened in Israel that day (October 7) did on the steps of our opera house,'” he said.

“Decisive action had to be taken to stop this behavior in the first place. And it was like watching a train wreck.”

He also attacked some people in his own party who he said threw him “under the bus” and singled out dissident business executive Alex Hawke, who called for a public apology from him.

“I think it’s pretty clear that Mr. Hawke has an old crack there,” he said.

“I had a very stern talk with him.

“Don’t try to gaslight me or accuse me of something I did or didn’t do and don’t force me to apologize for something that doesn’t require an apology.

“And don’t apologize for me, I have my own voice.”

Price said immigration remained an important issue for the Australian public and calling him a racist was “ridiculous”.

But he said he could have expressed his point better.

“To suggest that I am somehow racist towards any group of people is ridiculous,” he said.

“My whole family comes from many different backgrounds and I have always seen people as people; we are a human race.

“That’s how I was brought up, especially in a place like Alice Springs.

“But the left will weaponize anything to bring you down, especially if they see you as a threat.”

Asked if he had changed his position on immigration, he said everyone coming to Australia should embrace Australian “values”, regardless of skin colour, ethnicity or religion.

“The other side (Labour) is trying to simplify things in terms of skin color, it’s ridiculous,” Price said.

“Immigrants to this country come from many different backgrounds, many different religious groups.

“But ultimately, as a country, you need to embrace our values.

“Whether it’s the first people of this country, the convict class or our immigrant heritage, our Australian values ​​are built on these elements.

“We are one of the most successful multicultural countries on earth, but we have values ​​that we have created together over this time.

“And if you don’t embrace those values, you definitely don’t belong here.”