The Territory Senator says music was her first love; but she also had sights on joining the NT Police when she was in school.

But an unexpected pregnancy at just 17 changed her world – and along with other factors – led her on a path which has seen her walk the halls of the nation’s capital.

It is details such as these which are now coming to light in her new memoir, Matters of the Heart, written with Sue Smethurst and published by Harper Collins Australia.

To Jacinta, her life is an “Australian story” – and one that has not been without challenges.

“As a politician, I think sometimes you get the idea of politicians through the media, but you don’t get to really see them as a human or, you know, their personal side,” she tells this masthead.

“And I thought, I’d like to, I guess, share more of who I am in a personal way for those who want to know, but also to understand why I take the positions I do on some of the very important issues that are close to my heart.”

And share she does, with her memoir taking readers on journey of not only her life but also sharing details of her grandparents, parents, and family.

At times confronting, Jacinta tells her story candidly, delving into the best and worst parts of her life.

“It would be easy for me to gloss over this period, perhaps to briefly touch on it and move on, but there is no point in me telling my story if I’m not completely honest. And that means sharing the darkest period of my life. It’s a time I’m not proud of, but one that very much shaped who I am today,” she writes in her book.

Jacinta describes her battle with drug abuse in the late 2000s.

A young mother with new-found freedom, in her book she said she “felt like she was 17 again” when she finally made it to the dancefloor again after having three kids.

The weekend-long binges were her attempt to wash away memories of something much more tragic: the horrific violence her second partner, Jai, inflicted on her.

Jacinta said “the hurt went well beyond the skin-deep bruises you could see”.

She now shares her experiences so she can connect with those with who might be struggling as well.

Digging up bad memories for the book was “tough at times, like an absolute emotional rollercoaster remembering some of those times; some of the difficult times and the challenging times and the heartbreaking times,” she tells this masthead.

“Writing a book is a true reflection of your life.

“But (I also feel) pretty overwhelmingly sort of encouraged, I guess, and amazed looking back at where I’ve come.

“I think the country that we live in really can provide you with the opportunity to be whatever you want and to make it to – no matter what your background – make it to a level of government if that’s what you choose.”

Jacinta cites her mother, Bess Price, an NT CLP MLA between 2012 to 2016, as one her biggest political influences.

John Howard – the former Prime Minister who enacted the controversial 2007 Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act – is another.

Howard provides the foreword to Jacinta’s memoir, telling readers she “succeeded in life because she seeks the best in people, always appealing to values of fairness and equality”.

“She knows that the true value of a person lies in their dignity, integrity, hard work, and respect and warmth for others,” Howard writes.

“I’m very humbled and grateful for Howard’s contribution to the book,” Jacinta tells this masthead.

“It means a lot to me, especially that I know that he’s written about the dark elements of my life.

“And his words, I think, brought a bit of a tear to my eye when I first read them because, you know, he’s one of our country’s prime ministers and one that I admire very deeply.”

A Country Liberal Party senator admiring a Liberal Prime Minister would hardly surprise anyone, but what Jacinta thinks will surprise readers is her creative side.

Jacinta began her love of music playing the violin as a child, joining St Phillip’s College bush band in grade 7.

“Music is something I firmly believe brings people together and can resonate with people, you know, no matter what kind of music,” she says.

“I think music moves humans and that’s a commonality that we share with one another. It’s always been a huge part of my life.”

In her book, Jacinta tells how she went from jamming to Salt-N-Pepa and TLC on the boom box in her bedroom to eventually taking to the stage herself, first as part of a hip-hop crew with her friends called Flava 4.

“I loved performing and felt I’d found my calling. Through music, I found a way of expressing myself, and I discovered a new purpose and passion,” she writes in her book.

She credits music – alongside a bit of AFL – to have pulled her from the drug induced depression she’d found herself in.

She was no longer Jacinta, she was Sassy J, part of a band called Catch the Fly. 

Before joining Alice Springs Town Council, Jacinta released her album Dry River, produced by Bill Chambers, father of Australian country singer-songwriter Kasey Chambers.

But for Jacinta, a personal musical highlight was co-hosting the Central Australian children’s program Yamba’s Playtime.

“It was just such a special time, just an amazing time to be able to have the opportunity to do that,” she says.

“To travel this beautiful country by road, by plane, by sea, and while effectively seeking to improve the lives of our children in remote communities and small communities and impact their lives in a positive way and their families as well was just like – those chances don’t come around all the time, but to be able to do that was just an incredible time in my life.”

Music also connected her with her husband Colin, a musician who has several albums under his belt, and also appeared on The Voice program.

In her book, Jacinta describes how she was born into two worlds: her father’s catholic upbringing, and her mother’s Warlpiri traditions.

Her father, a teacher, met her mother while working in Yuendumu in the 1970s.

He was 28, and she was 18 with a son she’d had five years earlier.

After being together a number of years and relocating to the Tiwi Islands for her father’s work, Jacinta was born.

Born 43 years ago in Darwin Hospital at the same time a B-52 bomber was circling, her birth sparked a joke by her father that the Earth shook the moment she was born.

But the two worlds she entered were complex, and she wasn’t entirely sure she liked how one of them worked.

She writes how she was well aware of Yuendumu’s “dark side” from a young age and saw the horrific effects of alcohol related violence from a young age.

“Aboriginal women have never had a feminist movement,” she says.

“The expectation has been for Aboriginal women to toe the line, you know, don’t stand up for your own personal rights. Instead, we stand up for the rights of our race and therefore put ourselves behind the rights of our race in terms of rights as women, as individuals in our own right.”

“One day I hope to see that change because, you know, in terms of Western society, that’s what it’s all about, empowering women in that regard.”

During her formative years, Jacinta also had an opportunity to travel into Africa, Europe, and North America.

“It’d be wonderful if more kids, particularly Indigenous kids in Australia, had the opportunity to see how other human beings lived in other parts of the world and to realise that we are all humans,” she says.

The Senator says it is a “happy accident” her book has been released before the federal election is called.

The book was supposed to come out before Christmas she said, however, she ends it with a call to arms for what could happen under a coalition government.

“The one question I’ve been asked many times since the Voice is: ‘What now?’” she writes.

“As I write, the next federal election is on the horizon – it may even be run and done by the time you’re reading this. Whatever the outcome, my promise is straightforward.

“Every day I am in Canberra, I will focus on supporting Australians on the basis of need, not race. Because one thing I absolutely understand is that being Indigenous doesn’t automatically make you disadvantaged. People are disadvantaged by poverty, by violence, by abuse – regardless of race.”

Elaborating further to this masthead, Jacinta summed it up simply: “I feel like we can do things better, but I don’t think we can do it on our own.”

“Until we can acknowledge some significant truths and take this aim together to improve our lot, then I don’t know that we can really solve some of those issues as immediately as we could.”

Matters of the Heart will be released on February 12 online and in bookstores.