Jacinta Nampijinpa Price shouldn’t ‘just parrot’ claims without verifying, defamation trial hears | Jacinta Nampijinpa Price
A libel trial has heard Liberal senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price must verify allegations against the head of an Aboriginal land council before he publicly damages her reputation.
Lesley Turner, chief executive of the Central Land Council, has filed a federal court action alleging the senator defamed her through a July 2024 press release.
He said this statement incorrectly said that a motion of no confidence had been passed against him by council delegates.
Alice Springs-based health officer John Boffa said Nampijinpa Price had added weight to the claim by repeating it publicly in a Darwin court on Tuesday after being called as a witness by Turner’s legal team.
“A senator of the Crown cannot parrot what someone else has said without thinking about it and trying to verify it independently,” the Conservative politician’s barrister Peter Gray said during questioning by SC.
Land council chairman Matthew Palmer spoke to the NT News and ABC before the senator issued his media statement, telling media outlets that a vote had been taken and the majority wanted Turner to go.
Gray’s suggestions that Senator Nampijinpa Price assumed Palmer’s statements were true were rejected in court.
Chief medical officer of the Central Australian Aboriginal Health Congress, Dr. Boffa instead argued that the senator added a “new twist” to the allegations and also accused Turner of unprofessional conduct.
He said reports of internal debate led to reputational damage because the “bush wire” was so good at spreading negative stories.
“I think his reputation has taken a hit from that and the mud sticks,” Dr Boffa added.
The damage was caused by the perception that Turner had resorted to fraud and remained in office despite the vote against him.
Dr Boffa said any suggestion that the head of an Aboriginal organization had lost community support was very serious.
Palmer’s allegations were published by the NT News, but the newspaper later retracted the article and issued an apology.
Turner’s lawyer, Sue Chrysanthou SC, had previously told the court that the senator and his team did not question inconsistencies in Palmer’s press release or confirm the matter with sources before launching into the defamatory eviction.
The senator has withdrawn the truth defense and is relying on the qualified privilege defense to avoid court-ordered prejudice.
He also denied suffering any harm from Turner’s actions.
In September Nampijinpa Price was removed from the shadow ministry for refusing to support Opposition Leader Sussan Ley and failing to apologize for controversial comments about Indian immigrants.
The trial continues.
