Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price hints at PM ambitions on Chris Kenny show

Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has hinted she might hold ambitions for the top job in politics, suggesting many Australians would ‘love’ to see her in the role of PM.

Firebrand senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has hinted she might one day go for the top job in federal politics, saying many Australians would “love” to see her in the role of prime minister.

Senator Price delivered the ambitious suggestion in an interview with Sky News host Chris Kenny on Tuesday after she withdrew her bid to be deputy Liberal Party leader.

Kenny pressed her on whether she might one day look to move into the lower house.

“The Senate is where the biggest battles are going to be fought,” she said.

“The Senate is where I am focused.”

When Mr Kenny said if she ever wanted to become prime minister, she would have to move to the lower house, Senator Price responded: “Well, there is that.”

“I know there are a lot of Australians who would love to see that, but right now, as I said, my focus is the Senate.”

Senator Price, an Indigenous senator from the Northern Territory, jumped ship from the Nationals following the May 3 election and is now a member of the Liberal Party room.

Senator Jacinta Price appeared on the Chris Kenny show on Tuesday afternoon. Picture: Sky News Australia

She had been planning to stand for the deputy leadership position on a joint ticket with former shadow treasurer Angus Taylor on Tuesday, but withdrew when Sussan Ley won the leadership in a 29-25 vote.

The contest was widely seen as a battle between the conservative and moderate wings of the party, with Senator Price and Mr Taylor representing a more conservative line of thinking.

In her interview with Mr Kenny, her first since the ballot, Senator Price said she expected “robust” debate in the party room moving forward.

She also said she would likely stick to supporting nuclear energy.

“I think there is going to be some robust debate around energy,” she said.

“I think there are those of us who are absolutely of the view we need to stick to nuclear, it’s the cleanest, greenest energy that we have. Obviously we are not put many years behind, but we need to be smart.”

She also said the Coalition’s commitment to net zero could be “on the table” for discussion.

“I think we need to have all those conversations on the table as part of the party room conversation,” she said.

Senator Price’s defection from the Nationals triggered anger and public rebuke from senators Matt Canavan and Bridget McKenzie, but she said she did not regret the move in light of her defeat in the party room on Tuesday.

“I absolutely feel like I am in my home,” she said.

Moving forward, she said she was focused on rebuilding the shattered party following its shellacking at the election, that saw the loss of dozens of seats, including that of leader Peter Dutton.

“I’m not focused on any particular way forward, other than to say that it is absolutely about rebuilding the party, fighting together against the enemy, which we know is Labor and the left, and also working with our National Party colleagues,” she said.

Originally published as Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price hints at PM ambitions on Chris Kenny show