Northern Territory senator switches from Nationals to Liberals where she believes she can be more ‘effective’ in fighting for ‘best interests of all Australians’Australia news live: latest politics and federal election updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe firebrand Northern Territory senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has defected to the Liberals and hinted she could contest the party’s deputy leadership, in a move that would have major implications in the race to replace Peter Dutton.The Country Liberal senator announced on Thursday she would switch from the Nationals to the Liberal party room, where she believed she could be more “effective” in fighting for the “best interests of all Australians”.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading…Northern Territory senator switches from Nationals to Liberals where she believes she can be more ‘effective’ in fighting for ‘best interests of all Australians’Australia news live: latest politics and federal election updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe firebrand Northern Territory senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has defected to the Liberals and hinted she could contest the party’s deputy leadership, in a move that would have major implications in the race to replace Peter Dutton.The Country Liberal senator announced on Thursday she would switch from the Nationals to the Liberal party room, where she believed she could be more “effective” in fighting for the “best interests of all Australians”.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading…
The firebrand Northern Territory senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has defected to the Liberals and hinted she could contest the party’s deputy leadership, in a move that would have major implications in the race to replace Peter Dutton.
The Country Liberal senator announced on Thursday she would switch from the Nationals to the Liberal party room, where she believed she could be more “effective” in fighting for the “best interests of all Australians”.
She could run on a ticket with the shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, after Dutton lost his seat in Saturday’s federal election. The current deputy Liberal leader, Sussan Ley, is considered the other frontrunner in the race.
The Liberal party will meet on Tuesday to elect a new leader and deputy.
Asked if she had leadership ambitions, Price told Sky News: “This has been a massive step. I will not put any limitations on myself.
“I have always been led by the Australian people and will continue to do so.”
She called for the Liberals to move forward with commonsense policies and be a party “of the centre”.
“I want to be part of putting forward something for the Australian people, that they can get behind,” she said.
As a Country Liberal, Price can choose to sit with either the Nationals or Liberals.
In a post on X, Taylor said he was “delighted” at news Price would join the Liberal party room.
“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,” he wrote.
The manoeuvring comes as momentum builds internally for the Liberal party to abandon or scale back its position on nuclear energy as MPs reveal longstanding doubts over the commitment to taxpayer-funded reactors.
The NSW Liberal senator Dave Sharma became the latest to raise concerns about the Coalition’s contentious policy after his colleague Maria Kovacic called for it to be dumped entirely.
The opposition went to the election vowing to lift the John Howard-era national ban on nuclear power and build reactors at seven sites nationwide.
“I believe nuclear power could play a useful role in our future energy mix, but this is a quite different question to whether the government should be building, owning and operating such assets,” Sharma told Guardian Australia.
“Clearly that element of our policy – the public financing component – was a difficult one to sell.”
The prospect of a Taylor-Price leadership team would represent a shift to the right for the Liberal party, which was already battling perceptions of being too rightwing under Dutton.
Price, who has sat in the Nationals party room since entering parliament in 2022, shot to national prominence during the voice to parliament referendum as the public face of the successful no campaign.
In January, Dutton appointed her to a government efficiency portfolio, which drew immediate comparisons with Elon Musk’s Doge in the Trump administration.
Price attracted further comparisons with Trump-style politics during the campaign, declaring she wanted to “make Australia great again” at a rally in Perth.
The possible leadership pairing prompted immediate backlash from Liberal moderates, with one ridiculing Price for seeking the deputy leadership of a party room “she has never sat in”.
“Taylor’s economics and Price’s Maga-Trumpish has just been rejected by voters,” one Liberal MP said.
Another Liberal said the pairing was “not the answer to our woes”.
“It is a risk of taking us further from the centre, into fringe issues that we don’t need to be talking about.”
The Nationals leader, David Littleproud, said he was disappointed at Price’s defection.
“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.
“Our strong stance led to an overwhelming majority of Australians voting no.
“I appreciate Senator Nampijinpa Price has ambition that extends beyond the possibilities of the Nationals and I wish her well.”
Outspoken Nationals senator Matt Canavan accused Price of putting her own ambition “over the will of voters”.
“Jacinta Price was elected less than a week ago as a senator that would sit in the Nationals party room,” he wrote on social media.
“Jacinta’s act is no different than Lidia Thorpe switching sides. In fact it is worse because in Jacinta’s case the votes are still being counted.
“If Jacinta wanted to sit in the Liberal party room she could have stood for a Liberal seat just a week ago. Why didn’t she?”
On Thursday, Sussan Ley received public endorsements from a trio of former Liberal premiers – Jeff Kennett, Nick Greiner and Barry O’Farrell – as momentum builds around the push to make her the first female federal Liberal leader in history.
The public nature of the pro-Ley campaign has irked some Taylor supporters, who believe the process should be played out in private.
“This is not a US primary,” one MP said, referencing the public contest to decide Democrat and Republican presidential candidates.
One of Taylor’s allies downplayed the influence of the ex-premiers, arguing none of the endorsements would peel votes off the shadow treasurer.
Sources in both camps believed Ley remained the favourite but insisted the numbers were extremely tight.