‘We are not a racist country’: Jacinta Nampijinpa Price speaks out after Voice defeat

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has declared Australia is “not a racist country” after resounding defeat of the Voice referendum.

Liberal frontbencher Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has declared “we are not a racist country” in the wake of the referendum result as she called for a “new era” in Indigenous politics.

The star of the No campaign, Senator Price emerged on Saturday night with Liberal leader Peter Dutton.

Calling for an end to “academics and activists” thinking they knew better than people on the ground in remote communities, she said that a new way of thinking was required.

“We should not maintain the racism of low expectations in this country,’’ she said. “We are all part of the fabric of this nation.”

Senator Price said she wanted to thank the Australian people for “believing in our nation.”

“The Australian people have overwhelmingly voted No. They have said No to division in our Constitution along the lines of race,” she said.

“They have said No to the gas-lighting, bullying, to the manipulation. They have said No to grievance and the push from activists to suggest that we are a racist country when we are absolutely not a racist country.

Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price is seen at a No campaign event in Brisbane. Picture: NCA Newswire/John Gass

“We are one of the if not the greatest nation on the face of the earth. And it is time for Australians to believe that once again, to be proud to call ourselves Australian..”

She paid tribute to her family and vowed to be a “warrior” for the voiceless.

The MP previously broke down in tears during the referendum campaign as she described her role as a “vessel” for Indigenous people ignored by mainstream politics and media.

But from her entry to federal politics just last year, there has been no ignoring Senator Price.

She had a powerful role in steering the Liberal Party to embrace the No vote and the campaign that followed.

From the start, she has focused on domestic violence and sexual violence in remote communities.

“I was a vessel for the women sitting in that room, the cousin of a young girl murdered, hanging from a tree,’ she told an Adelaide rally during the campaign,’’ she said.

“They are the voices the media ignores, they are the voices Labor ignore, they are the voices the Greens ignore, they are the voters the Teals ignore. And they are the voices this bloody Voice to Parliament will ignore.”

In an emotional speech, she described the Voice referendum as the “biggest gaslighting event our nation has ever experienced”.

“We are sick to death of being told how racist we are, how horrible we are. Our own children are being taught not to be proud to call themselves Australians in this country,’’ she said.

Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price. Picture: Keryn Stevens

Jacinta Price and Warren Mundine at Voice to Parliament No rally in Perth. Picture: NCA Newswire/Philip Gostelow

Senator Price has argued a Voice would “constitutionally enshrine” a victimhood mentality in the country.

“It doesn’t belong here,” she said.

Better known as a children’s television presenter in the Northern Territory before the Voice referendum, she emerged as a driving force of the No campaign.

At the time of her maiden speech in July, 2022, the Liberal Party had not declared a position on the referendum.

But Senator Price made it clear she did not support it accusing Mr Albanese of “platitudes of motherhood statements.

“And no, Prime Minister, we don’t need another ‘hand out’ as you have described the ‘Uluru Statement’ to be,’’ she said.

“No, we Indigenous Australians have not come to agreement on this statement — as also what you have claimed.

“I am an empowered Warlpiri/Celtic Australian woman who did not and has never needed a paternalistic government to bestow my own empowerment upon me.

“It’s time to stop feeding into a narrative that promotes racial divide, a narrative that claims to try to stamp out racism but applies racism in doing so and encourages a racist over reaction. Yes, it is time for some truth telling.”

Ultimately, she led on the Voice and Peter Dutton and the Liberal Party followed.