Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, Country Liberal senator for the Northern Territory, is never far from the spotlight. Now she’s being sued for defamation.
In July, a since-deleted press release from Matt Palmer, the Central Land Council chair at the time, claimed that a motion had been moved to dismiss chief executive Lesley Turner. The NT News reported on the release, and Price put out a press release of her own based on Palmer’s, which Turner, in his statement of claim, says aggravated the damage caused by the first press release.
Turner claims that Price’s release implies he had “behaved so unprofessionally that it warranted his dismissal” and that he was unfit to continue the work of CEO. Turner is being represented by high-profile defamation barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC.
This week, Price was ordered to pay $1,500 after her legal team failed to file a defence to the claims, despite the court hearing that there was a “personal matter” that caused the delay.
Justice Michael Wheelahan QC in the Federal Court told Price’s barrister, Barry Dean, that there was “an expectation that by the first case management (hearing) a defence will be filed”.
“It appears on the evidence that is before me, your instructing solicitor does not respond to courteous requests for information. That’s not acceptable in my court. That’s not acceptable behaviour by a legal practitioner.”
The NT News retracted the articles and published an apology in late August, following contact from Turner.
Turner claims that Price did not respond to contact asking for a retraction, did not apologise following the NT News’ retraction, and did not attempt to check if the allegations were correct. This, he claims, combined with the implications of the first press release, aggravated the damage caused by the publications he claims to be false.
Representatives for Turner provided a statement to Crikey, which said, “To have my professionalism called into question due to the baseless allegations made and published by a senator is extremely hurtful.”
“The situation demonstrates that … particularly individuals who hold public office or a position of influence — ought to ensure that their allegations are based on facts and not on what might be said or alleged by someone with ulterior motives,” the statement continued.
Price did not respond to Crikey’s request for comment.
The case will return to the courts on December 4.
It’s not Price’s first time in the courts for defamation matters, having had to apologise in 2020 to former Labor senator Nova Peris following a settlement after allegedly saying Peris had promoted Indigenous men who were sexual predators. In 2021, Price received an apology of her own from the ABC over its coverage of her “Mind the Gap” speaking tour in 2019.
Correction: An earlier version of this article referred to a press release from the Central Land Council. It has since been amended to reflect that the statement allegedly came from the CLC’s then chair, Matt Palmer.
