Jacinta Price drops post election bombshell as she defects to Liberal Party

One of the Coalition’s most vocal Senators, Jacinta Price, has dropped a bombshell on the party days after it lost the election by a landslide.

Prominent anti-Voice campaigner Jacinta Price will move to sit with the Liberal Party in an effort to “rebuild” the party after a blustering election loss.

It is expected she will run as Angus Taylor’s deputy when the party room meets next week to vote in a new leader.

The current race for the top job is between Mr Taylor and Deputy Liberal Leader Sussan Ley.

The Country Liberal senator said she believed the Liberal Party was her “natural home” and “somewhere I can contribute meaningfully” in a statement shared on Thursday.

While Senator Price is a member of the Country Liberal Party in the Northern Territory, where there aren’t separate outfits for the National and Liberals, she previously sat in the Nationals party room, as per party convention.

Mr Taylor has since stated that he was “delighted” by Senator Price’s decision, and described her as a “tireless advocate for Liberal values and a good friend”.

“Jacinta will be another strong voice at a time the Liberal Party must rebuild,” he posted on Twitter.

I’m delighted by the news that Jacinta Nampijinpa Price will join the Liberal Party. Jacinta is a tireless advocate for Liberal values and a good friend. Jacinta will be another strong voice at a time the Liberal Party must rebuild.

— Angus Taylor MP (@AngusTaylorMP) May 8, 2025

Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price is pictured with former Opposition Leader Peter Dutton during the election campaign. Picture: Richard Dobson / NewsWire

Nationals Leader David Littleproud, who is the only remaining opposition party leader following Saturday’s bloodbath result, issued a pointed statement, saying he was “disappointed” at Senator Price’s decision.

“The Nationals negotiated an extra position in Shadow Cabinet before the election, to give Senator Nampijinpa Price a promotion and Shadow Ministerial opportunity,” he said.

“The Nationals were the first to lead the ‘No’ case in relation to the Voice, backing Senator Nampijinpa Price early and before anyone else did.

“I appreciate Senator Nampijinpa Price has ambition that extends beyond the possibilities of The Nationals and I wish her well.”

He also made the point that unlike the Liberal Party, the Nationals retained their presence in the House of Representatives.
“The Liberals will need to rebuild after Saturday’s election and Senator Nampijinpa Price will play a key role in that recovery, while The Nationals are proud to have kept all of our Lower House seats,” he said.

“The Nationals will continue to fight for regional Australia, which ultimately helps all of Australia.”

Nationals Leader David Littleproud said he was ‘dissapointed’ Jacinta Price had opted to sit with the Liberals. Picture: NewsWire/ Martin Ollman

Moments following her statement, prominent Liberal senator James Paterson, who recently acted the party’s campaign spokesperson, shared a photo of himself and Senator Price.

“Delighted by friend @jacintanampijinpa has joined the @liberalaus. Welcome home Jacinta!” he posted on Instagram.

In her statement, she confirmed her decision was not “any way a reflection on the National Party,” and not a decision she made “lightly”.

“I am deeply appreciative of the opportunities the National Party under David Littleproud’s leadership has given me, most notably the responsibility of leading the No campaign in the Voice referendum,” she said.

“I do however feel the Liberal Party is my natural home and somewhere I can contribute meaningfully.”

Instead, she said she wanted to help “rebuild” the party and believed she would be “more effective” sitting in the Liberal Party party room.

“I want to bring back our core values of liberty, individual freedom and responsibility, the rule of law, free market and economic prosperity, minimal government intervention, a fair go and most of all, love for our nation, Australia,” she said.

“Let this be the moment we stop whispering our values and start declaring them again, not as fringe ideas, but as the foundation on which this country was built.

“Let this serve as a reminder that our duty is not to win favour with the few, but to stand united with the man – those who Menzies recognised, those who Howard defended, and those we must fight for now.”

Senator Price previously sat in the Nationals’ party room but will move to the Liberal Party room to help “rebuild” in the wake of a shocking election defeat for the Coalition. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

According to party convention, Senator Price should sit with the Nationals as the first person on the Country Liberal Northern Territory ticket, while a prospective second senator would sit with the Liberal Party.

While both electorates a held by Labor, a Country Liberal MP for Lingiari would also sit in the Nationals party room, while the MP for Solomon would sit with the Liberal Party.

Prior to Thursday, Senator Price had been grilled on whether she would defect to the Liberal Party room, and neither confirmed or denied the commentary.

Speaking to Sky on Tuesday, she said while it was “expected of me” to sit with the Nationals, she was “still waiting for the dust to settle with a lot of the issues we’re confronted with”.

“We’re still reeling from the outcome that’s occurred and we need to understand much better how we as a Coalition we can come back stronger and learn from those lessons,” she said.

“I’m a fighter, and I want to make sure we can fight back and come back stronger.”

During the campaign, Senator Price was questioned over to decision to shout: “Make Australia great again,” during a Liberal Party rally in Perth, however when questioned by journalists on the quip, she accused the media of being “obsessed with Trump”.

Her strident defence of her actions and press conference performance led to Peter Dutton promising her a cabinet position if the Coalition won government.

Originally published as Jacinta Price drops post election bombshell as she defects to Liberal Party