The Sauce: Backbenched Senator Jacinta Price still a star draw for NSW Liberals
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price remains a drawcard for NSW Liberals, headlining a $2000-a-ticket fundraiser despite recent controversy over Indian immigrant comments. Read The Sauce for details.
Firebrand Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price may have been backbenched, but she is still regarded as a star among many of her conservative colleagues – including in NSW.
According to a party invite obtained by The Sauce, Price will be the VIP guest at a $2000-a-ticket fundraiser for NSW Liberal MP Rachel Merton next month.
The event, at the Union, University and Schools Club, follows Price headlining a fundraiser for Willoughby MP Tim James earlier this year.
Price was sacked from the shadow ministry by Liberal leader Sussan Ley for the senator’s failure to endorse her leadership as well as her refusal to apologise over a comment about Indian immigrants.
Price had said in a radio interview that the Labor Party encouraged Indian immigrants because they voted for it. While she walked back her position, it was not enough to save her from the chop.
The commentary resulted in Ley and then NSW Liberal Leader Mark Speakman visiting the Harris Park Community in Western Sydney in a bid to repair relationships earlier this year.
Visiting the precinct on Saturday, new NSW Liberal leader Kellie Sloane was asked by The Sauce correspondent Jake McCallum about what she made of the fundraising event between her MP and Price, with the Vaucluse MP declaring she was “not unaware”.
“All I can say is that I’m looking forward to a lot of engagement with the Indian community,” she said.
“But also I really appreciated the aspiration of the Indian community, their values, values that are Liberal values, business-minded, ambitious, community minded, family focused communities, as are many multicultural communities in our state.”
As for Ms Merton, she told The Sauce she got to know Price while working on the No to The Voice campaign and found her “extraordinary life story, strong values and her dedication to Australia” as “inspiring”.
PRIME VENUE
The Sauce can reveal the Minns government on Friday confirmed it had drafted former Labor leader and minister John Robertson and respected media executive Edwina McCann to join the board of Venues NSW next month for three-year terms.
McCann is the editorial director and publisher at News Prestige, overseeing some of Australia’s most iconic lifestyle brands including Vogue Australia, GQ Australia and delicious. She is also a member of the boards of the Australian Rugby Foundation and the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia.
Among the hats worn by Robertson is CEO of Foodbank ACT/NSW, director with the Aland Foundation, iCARE chair, and chair/president of chair/president of the NSW Council of Social Service (NCOSS).
Mr Robertson is a former NSW Opposition leader and was a former NSW government minister.
The newbies will join Venues NSW board members John Quayle, Amy Duggan, Jane Spring and Lachlan Gyles SC, with Erin Flaherty to depart after serving since 2019.
Sport Minister Steve Kamper said the advice of the board would ensure Venues NSW continued to deliver “for fans, athletes, and communities across the state”.
Welcoming McCann and Robertson, Venues NSW chairman David Gallop said together they would help host a busy summer of sporting events and concerts, while overseeing the ongoing major precinct planning for Hunter Park and Wollongong, “and support the development of Penrith Stadium by Infrastructure NSW and John Holland”.
Originally published as The Sauce: Backbenched Senator Jacinta Price still a star draw for NSW Liberals
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