Country Liberal senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has fallen short of condemning comments made by Gary Johns in which he claimed some Aboriginal communities were living in "stupor" and recommended they "learn English", in a shortened, and at times testy, press conference on Tuesday.
Price, a Warlpiri/Celtic woman and leading No campaigner for the Voice referendum, was joined by Coalition colleague Sarah Henderson at Parliament House to call for more funding for the Yipirinya school, which caters for Indigenous students in Central Australia.
Both Senators argued the school - which proudly teaches in four traditional languages, along with English, and has a teaching staff that is 65 per cent Aboriginal - has been let down by the Federal government diverting some funds earmarked for schools to combat youth crime in Alice Springs.
Yipirinya wants to build a satellite school in Burt Creek, 60km north of Alice Springs, to better enable access for students.
Senator Price previously told Alice Springs News in May that the school was "for the most vulnerable children within our community. A lot of very serious issues they are confronted with in our streets. Those kids need a better start in life."
Price has made no secret that her mother, Bess Price, is the upper primary hub coordinator at the school.
Senator Henderson told Sky News that the "Albanese Government has no interest in listening to voices in remote communities".
However, the press conference quickly turned towards comments made by Johns - president of Recognise a Better Way, a no campaign group set up by Warren Mundine.
Price said she was "in agreement with the fact that, Indigenous kids need to be able to learn to read and write English," noting that it was "a pretty pertinent point" for employment opportunities in Australia.
However, she would not be drawn into stating if she was comfortable with Johns remaining in the no campaign.
"People can have their opinions. My concern is the kids of Yipirinya right now, that's the purpose of this particular media conference is about," Price said.
"I would prefer to be able to focus on marginalised children from my community than get into the weeds with other people's opinions. It's not what I'm here for."
When pressed on whether John's opinions were appropriate, Price declined to comment.
She chastised the media for their focus on the subject of Johns, rather than focussing on funding for the Yipirinya school.
"I'll make it very clear, I'm not concerned with the opinions of others. I'm concerned with the welfare of Indigenous children in marginalised communities," she said.
"It'd be nice if the media was concerned with that as well. That'd be great."
"Perhaps we could start to improve the lives of marginalised Indigenous Australians, when people paid enough attention to the lives of marginalised Indigenous children."
Gary Johns' comments have been widely condemned on both sides of politics.
NSW Liberal shadow health minister Matt Kean labelled them "extreme and offensive" whilst Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it was "of concern" that he was involved in the no campaign.
The former Labor MP's comments included describing colonialism as a "gift" for First Nations people, said the Aboriginal women were "protected by the church" and argued that "blood will have to be measured" to identify Aboriginality.
In a recent article for The Spectator, Johns stated "There is no love for Aborigines in this referendum proposal, just ego."
He has refused to leave the no campaign, consistently defending his statements in subsequent media interviews.
No campaign group Fair Australia told The Australian that Dr John's claims were "uncontroversial historical facts" whilst Warren Mundine said he wouldn't be asking him to step down.
"Just because people complain about him and that, at least he's honest about his approach to these things and I'm very pleased to have him on our committee and to have him as an adviser to us," Mr Mundine said.
