Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has defended her defection to the Liberals despite vocal criticism from the National Party and Liberal moderates.
Speaking on 2GB on Friday, Senator Price defended her move and refuted comments from Nationals colleagues that she didn't inform them of her defection beforehand, telling host Ben Fordham, "I wanted to do it in a respectful way, so I did speak to my colleagues".
"I even spoke to Sussan Ley as well. So, there are many that I had spoken to in the lead up to this being announced," she said.
"I've spoken to my party president and made sure we followed the correct process."
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The comments come after Nationals Senator Matt Canavan told The Australian Financial Review, "Price's decision to put her own ambition over the will of the voters is exactly why people are sick of politicians".
Senator Price argued she had always wanted to sit with the Liberals, despite convention saying the lead CLP Senator in the NT would sit in the Nationals party room.
"To be quite honest, it is something that I wanted to do from the first time I was elected," she told 2GB.
"[I] chose at that time that I needed to sit in the National party room, which was the expectation … and serve the people of the Northern Territory from there.
"I am a fighter. I have that fighting spirit I have been all my life, and that for me to fight on behalf of the Australian people, given the fact that our true enemy is Labor and the fact that they're about to destroy the country."
The Senator, who was elected for a second term in the upper house on Saturday, refused to rule out a leadership tilt in the future, stating: "That's a massive ask and you know, I certainly need to be able to learn the ropes and understand, how to be able to support the Australian people. To the best of my capacity."
She has been heavily criticised by Indigenous organisations and leaders in the past, especially for her role in the Voice referendum defeat, as well as pushing for audits and a royal commission during the election campaign.
Discussing her defection at short notice, senior leader and former co-chair of First Peoples' Assembly, Marcus Stewart, said, "The National Party is feeling very much like the Aboriginal community has for many years: betrayed, lied to and used for someone else's own personal political gain".
"If Jacinta Price is the answer, then clearly the Liberals don't understand the question," Nira illim bulluk man of the Taungurung Nation said.
Accusations are rife that the conservative wing of the Liberals is stacking their numbers to shore up Angus Taylor's leadership credentials against the more moderate Sussan Ley, with Price seen as Taylor's likely deputy.
Fellow Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie blasted the Liberal Party for "recruiting" Price during the election campaign, telling Sky News it is "not the behaviour of partners".
"What I'm very concerned about is that it now seems that the Liberal Party was actively recruiting Senator Nampijinpa Price five days out from an election," she said.
Senator Price, who is widely popular amongst conservatives, has been criticised for being part of the reason the Coalition have continued to move rightward.
Moderate Liberals insiders have heavily criticised her decision to defect, arguing a leadership ticket with Taylor risked alienating more traditional Liberal voters and moving the party further rightward.
During the election, Senator Price said the Coalition would "make Australia great again" at a gathering in Perth, before images emerged of her wearing a 'MAGA' hat—something she later blasted the media for revealing.
However, despite the electoral chaos, conservatives, including former PM Tony Abbott and his former advisor Peta Credlin, have urged the Liberals to "embrace" the culture wars. Senator Price said Mr Abbott supported her move.
"Tony, has ... supported me, he supported my mother when she was a minister in a territory government," she said.
