‘Mud sticks’: NT Senator Jacinta Price allegedly damaged reputation of Central Land Council chief executive Lesley Turner
An outspoken Aussie Senator who allegedly ‘parroted’ misinformation about an Aboriginal Land Council leader has been accused of gravely damaging his reputation.
An outspoken Aussie Senator who allegedly ‘parroted’ misinformation about an Aboriginal Land Council leader has been accused of gravely damaging his reputation through the “bush telegraph”.
CLP Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price is being sued by Central Land Council chief executive Lesley Turner over allegations she defamed him in a press release in July 2024.
In court documents, Mr Turner’s has argued the Senator’s release implied he had “behaved so unprofessionally that it warranted his dismissal” and was “unfit to continue to occupy the role of CEO”.
Over two days the court has heard accusations the Senator’s release was motivated by a plot to replace the well-respected CLC chief executive, amid an internal clash between Mr Turner and then CLC chair Matthew Palmer.
Ms Price has indicated she will rely on a qualified privilege defence, as it was in the public interest and she had a reasonable belief her statement was true and took steps to verify its accuracy.
Despite Ms Price claiming the “majority” of CLC delegates had voted against Mr Turner, senior executives said there was no such motion at the July full council meeting.
CLC Policy executive director and Communications general manager Josie Douglas told the court there was an internal investigation into where the claims of this no-confidence motion originated.
Dr Douglas said an attendee of a men’s only meeting — in which female delegates, CLC staff and executive were excluded — Mr Palmer attempted to table the no confidence motion.
“But it all came to nothing,” she said.
“There was no motion, there was an attempt at a motion.”
The court heard that following the CLC meeting Mr Palmer emailed just four journalists — three to News Corp and another to Nine — falsely claiming Mr Turner had been dismissed from his role.
The next day, Ms Price shared her release to more than 1000 journalists, now stating the majority of delegates supported the no confidence motion due to his “unprofessional conduct”, but Mr Turner was not dismissed as the chief executive of the CLC.
On Tuesday, Central Australian Aboriginal Health Congress chief medical officer John Boffa told the Federal Court the Senator’s press release “added a level of credibility” to the false claims about the no confidence motion.
Ms Price’s barrister Peter Gray argued the Senator had merely repeated Mr Palmer’s claims, but Dr Boffa said Australians expected more from their leaders.
“A Senator of the Crown can’t just parrot what someone else has said without thinking about it, and trying to verify it independently,” he said.
“When a politician repeats claims you assume … that they do their due diligence.
“I expect politicians to also use their networks, their independent sources to verify something.
“I saw it as her independently verifying that this vote did take place, and the majority of people wanted Mr Turner gone.”
Dr Boffa said Ms Price’s Facebook posts claiming the well-respected chief executive was “gaslighting” the community made it sound as though Mr Turner ignored the CLC members and was just “hanging around like a bad smell”.
“Once Senator Price weighed in … it just elevated it,” he said.
“She didn’t just weigh in about the dismissal, she wanted a federal intervention into the land council.
“After that it was everywhere, everyone was talking about it.”
Dr Boffa said through “the bush telegraph” — word of mouth — rumours Mr Turner had acted unprofessionally and was no longer supported by CLC delegates ran wild.
“His reputation took a hit from this, and mud sticks,” he said.
“The bush telegraph is very effective at negative stories, which is what this was, and it’s nowhere near able to then break those stories.
“There will still be Aboriginal people out there who actually think that there was a vote to get rid of him and he’s still there.”
Dr Boffa said Mr Turner was also personally “upset and offended” by the allegations.
“It hit him in the guts,” he said.
The trial continues on Wednesday with evidence from the current CLC chair Warren Williams.
