Federal court removes man from Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price’s defamation trial
A man who was removed from a Senator’s high profile defamation hearing has claimed police were being used like “Nazi’s would use the Gestapo”.
Aussie Senator Jacinta Price has had a man removed from her high profile defamation hearing, after he accused her online of abusing her power and claiming police were being used like “the Gestapo”.
On Thursday, Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price successfully won an application to exclude a member of the public from the open court gallery.
Four NT Police officers were called to the Darwin Court precinct on Tuesday, after Ms Price’s staff reported the man as a ‘safety concern’ for sitting two seats from the Senator.
Mr Turner’s barrister Sue Chrysanthou said an AFP email to the Federal Court stated that the man was not considered “an immediate security risk” to Ms Price.
Ms Chrysanthou said that the “AFP did not consider they had any reason to act”, while NT Police said the incident was handled by court staff prior to their arrival and their officers were not required.
The AFP said while the man was “known” to police there were no “specific concerns” about any risks to the Senator.
The man at the centre of more than three hours of Federal Court legal debate did not attend the Wednesday or Thursday hearing.
In a letter to the court, he apologised for the disruption, and said it was never his intention to cause Ms Price any distress.
Under cross examination on Wednesday, the Senator said she felt “harassed” by the man, who for five years had repeatedly emailed her, made “angry and aggressive” visits to her office, and had recently commented on a Facebook post about her family.
“The comment made me sick to my stomach because I feared he would target my sons,” Ms Price said.
In another incident her barrister Peter Gray SC alleged the “big heavy-set” man asked Ms Price for a hug, which she found to be “creepy” — although the man has claimed it was merely a request for a handshake.
The Senator said his arrival in her high profile defamation hearing made her so anxious she was “unable to concentrate”.
Under cross examination Ms Price denied she had exaggerated his conduct, with Ms Chrysanthou quizzing her as to whether there was any evidence of him making a threat to her personal safety.
Ms Chrysanthou said while the man had “spoke negatively about her on social media”, that was a “day to day aspect of life as a politician”.
The court heard that in an email from Ms Price’s office, she threatened to sue the man for defaming her, and late last year the Australian Federal Police attended his home at her request.
Outside the court proceedings, the man raised concerns about the Senator asking the AFP to attend his home, saying she had never responded to his emails, or asked him to stop contacting her.
“Instead the Australian Federal Police were sent to deliver the warning in person not to send emails to the Senator,” he said in a Facebook post.
“To me it resonated how the Nazi’s would use the Gestapo in WWII, sending them to people’s homes to silence them.
“This was an abuse of power and nothing more than an attempt to intimidate someone into silencing them.”
Mr Gray said Ms Price felt comparisons between her and the Nazis were “intimidating and threatening”
In court, Ms Chrysanthou said her client took no position on the proposal to restrict the man from the public gallery, however she opposed the “extreme measures” taken by the Senator to suppress information about her application.
She said it was an “unusual and significant order for the court “ to expel a member of the public gallery who did not appear to be causing any disruption and had no restraining orders from the courts.
Debate over a suppression application stretched for more than three hours, with Justice Michael Wheelahan ruling on Thursday to expel the man and dismiss an interim suppression order.
Justice Wheelahan said given Ms Price’s anxiety over his presence, it was “contrary to the interests of justice” for him to return to the public gallery.
His ruling comes on the fourth day of the Federal Court case in which Ms Price is fighting allegations she defamed Central Land Council chief executive Lesley Turner in a press release in July 2024.
The NT Senator allegedly falsely claimed Mr Turner had lost a no-confidence vote at a CLC full council meeting, and had acted unprofessionally.
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Originally published as Federal court removes man from Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price’s defamation trial
