‘I broke down when I heard him cry’: The men who shaped Jacinta Nampijinpa Price

Politician Jacinta Nampijinpa Price is best known as being a conservative Indigenous voice in Parliament. Here, the 43-year-old opens up about her maternal grandfather, having her first child while in high school, and working alongside Peter Dutton.

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price: “Opposition leader Peter Dutton gets a bad rap but he’s such a considerate individual.” Credit: James Brickwood

My maternal grandfather, Japaljarri, who was called Dinny, was a loving and thoughtful man. He was a romantic, too, as he loved my grandmother, Clara. Under traditional law, she had been promised to a fella called Old Wally, but Clara wanted to be with my grandfather. Dinny offered Old Wally tea, flour and blankets in exchange for her.

Dinny never discussed the hard times in his life. Instead, he focused on the intrigue of first coming into contact with white Australia and what this new world meant. He was also a forward thinker. He’d seen my [non-Indigenous] father, David Price, take my mother, Bess, from horrific circumstances and show her a life of opportunity.

My mother was 13 when she had my older brother, Linawu, in Alice Springs. Under blackfella law, she belonged to the baby’s father. Two years later, Mum met Dad at the Yuendumu School, in the Northern Territory.

Mum was working as an assistant producing Warlpiri language literature. Dad had come from Wagga Wagga to teach deaf children. They were both married, but when Mum was 18 and both marriages had ended, they courted through letters.

Dad was always there for me as a kid. Especially when I was four and lost Linawu, then 10, to leukemia. And again when we nearly lost Mum to kidney failure. Dad taught me I was capable of everything. As a teacher, he enforced the fact that education was important. He also demonstrated how a man should love his wife.

Traditional Warlpiri culture is deeply patriarchal. Mum wasn’t allowed to attend my brother’s funeral because women were not allowed to attend their children’s or husband’s funerals, as they were seen as responsible for their deaths if they died prematurely or from illness.

I was a confident teenager and very competitive. I was sporty but music’s always been my love – I’d never hesitate to jump on a stage and perform. My teenage crush was Brad Pitt but also singer Johnny Diesel. When my musician husband, Colin Lillie, started touring with Diesel, I said to him, “Who’d have thought you’d tour with the guy whose poster I had on my wall?”

I had my first son, Leiland, in my final year of high school. I broke down when I heard him cry, it was so incredible. I had all my three sons young, so it stalled my education. When they were older, I started an arts degree but couldn’t complete it because, as a single mum, I had to work.

In my mid-20s, before meeting my husband, I also suffered domestic violence. I was strong enough to understand that I needed to get out. We’ve got to do more to stop this. When it comes to non-Indigenous Australian women, I feel like there’s much more freedom to talk openly about this and to hold men to account. But we don’t do that. We haven’t had a feminist movement for Indigenous women. We’re told to keep quiet in favour of fighting for the rights of our entire race, and not for our women.

I was working as a co-host on [Imparja Television’s] children’s show Yamba’s Playtime when I first met my husband, Colin, at a hospital. He was there with his son, Kinkade, and me with my son, Declan. A year later, I saw him at a bar performing in a covers band. As I got to know Colin, I loved his honesty. He was three years into sobriety and had a vulnerability about him. He was also ridiculously funny.

During the 2023 Voice campaign [which I opposed], Colin was my rock. He kept me on the path. He was my lighthouse in the dark.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton gets a bad rap but he’s such a considerate individual. He shares my passion for making Aboriginal lives better. In his previous roles as a police officer, he’s seen what domestic violence looks like. I’ve sat with him in front of victims and he listens. I’ve seen him choke back emotion. That’s what drives him when he’s supporting me. I am so glad Peter has so much faith in me.

Matters of the Heart (Harper Collins) by Jacinta Nampijinpa Price is out now.

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