PM slams WA Liberals as ‘insensitive’ for headlining Jacinta Nampijinpa Price at Indian centre-held fundraiser

Anthony Albanese has slammed the WA Liberals as “insensitive” for headlining senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price at a fundraiser in an Indian community centre after she made controversial remarks about the diaspora.

Ahead of his trip west this weekend, the Prime Minister accused the State branch of “promoting division” and the party of lacking consistency.

The Northern Territory Senator sold out an Indian community hall in Willetton on Thursday night for the function after claiming in an ABC interview last Wednesday that Labor were bringing in Indian migrants to boost their vote.

“I find that just extraordinary and insensitive that the Liberal Party in Western Australia — and I’ll be travelling to Western Australia in coming days — continues to engage in this, which is about promoting division,” the PM told reporters in Cairns on Friday.

“I think that the Liberal Party need to get their act together and speak with some coherence. I’m interested in bringing Australia together and bringing Australians together, that’s my focus.”

WA Liberal Leader Basil Zempilas claimed he had engaged with the Indian community prior to the event and claimed “they were OK with it being held at that centre”.

In a post to X on Friday afternoon, Senator Price said she was “honoured” to headline the evening.

“It is community spirit like this that keeps our democracy strong,” she said.

Senator Price had told the crowd in Perth her inflammatory comments about Indian migrants were “clumsy” and she regretted taking part in a recent interview with the ABC.

“My remarks were clumsy, and I should have said it better, and I should probably have never had that interview, quite frankly, with Patricia Karvelas in the first place,” she had told attendees.

Senator Price added that she “now had the freedom of being a backbencher” after Opposition leader Sussan Ley dumped her from shadow ministry over the controversy.

“Yes, it’s a newfound freedom that I’m very grateful for, because there are a number of issues that we need to be vocal about, ultimately, for me and you know, and my colleagues, we need to start talking about what our country needs to move forward, instead of each other,” she said.

Ms Ley’s handling of the situation also prompted speculation around her leadership, which several members of the Liberal party shot down.

Liberal Senator Jane Hume described the sage and “leadership nonsense” as an “entirely unedifying week for the Coalition” during a Sunrise appearance on Friday.

“This has been an entirely unedifying week for the Coalition. Not something that we want to repeat, something that we should learn from,” Senator Hume said.

“The most important thing now is that… we move on and start talking about what’s important to Australians… not leadership nonsense in the Liberal Party.”

The PM is expected to travel to Perth on Saturday evening ahead of a scheduled media appearance on Sunday before heading to PNG on Monday for the nation’s 50th independence anniversary.

It comes after he attended the Pacific Island Forum on across Wednesday and Thursday in the Solomon Islands.