Price "won't stand for intimidation" amidst calls to cancel event in WA's South West

Dechlan Brennan
Dechlan Brennan Published April 11, 2025 at 9.00am (AWST)

Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price says she "won't stand for intimidation" after Noongar groups called for the NT Senator to cancel an event in the WA town of Bunbury.

Earlier this week, Noongar community leader Robert Eggington used Facebook to call on other critics of Senator Price to protest her arrival in the city of Bunbury, where she is attending an event with Liberal candidate for the seat of Forrest, Ben Small.

Posting on a Noongar Facebook group, Mr Eggington wrote: "Need your support Noongar mob. She is not welcome here, and we need to make that very clear."

The event's location has been kept confidential to non-ticket holders and will see a discussion on the impacts of the Voice referendum and how it was defeated by the 'No' side, as well as on government "waste" and the Opposition's plan to resurrect Australia during a cost-of-living crisis.

A letter sent by Renae Isaacs-Guthridge, a Wardandi custodian who is also proudly connected to Country across the Noongar and Yamatji Nations, to Mr Small, highlighted the concerns of many about Senator Price visiting the region.

"Senator Price's well-documented positions on matters of truth-telling, voice and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander justice are considered by many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to be harmful and dismissive of lived experiences," Ms Isaacs-Guthridge wrote.

Speaking on 6PR on Thursday, Senator Price, who was popular in WA during the referendum amongst No voters, said she "won't stand for intimidation, or bullying, or the weaponisation of cultural reinvention".

More than 63 per cent of the WA electorate voted against the proposal to enshrine an Indigenous voice in the constitution.

"We live in a democratic country where everybody is entitled to an opinion," the opposition spokesperson for Indigenous affairs said.

"What I'll say to activists such as Renae is 'my door is always open'...what I would say to the activist class is 'debate the issues, don't attack the individual. You can have a difference of opinion. That is your right to do so, but no one has a right to restrict freedom of movement for anybody in this country."

Ms Isaacs-Guthridge claimed that by bringing such "dismissive" views to Wardandi Country "without appropriate consultation," Senator Price appeared to "disregard local cultural protocols and community sentiment".

"Wardandi elders and custodians deserve the basic respect of being consulted on matters that directly affect our communities and cultural safety," she said in her letter to Mr Small, who is vying to win the seat of Forrest after the retirement of long-time MP Nola Marino.

"When politicians use our Boodja (country) as platforms for divisive narratives without proper engagement, we feel undermined and silenced on our own country."

Asked about claims she has denied the impacts of intergenerational trauma, colonisation and systemic racism on Aboriginal communities, Senator Price said: "That is all absolutely opinion. There is no evidence to suggest that I'm contributing to any kind of ongoing harm."

"Opinions are opinions; everyone has got one. Until people can actually point out exactly what it is that I've said to make such claims, it is just that, it is opinion," Senator Price said.

During the Voice Referendum, the Senator told the Press Club Indigenous organisations looked to "demonise colonial settlement in its entirety and nurture a national self-loathing about the foundations of modern Australian achievement".

Asked to clarify if she thought any Indigenous people were suffering negative impacts of colonisation, she responded: "No."

"I'll be honest with you; I do not think so. A positive impact. I mean, now we have running water, readily available food," she said.

"No, there is no ongoing negative impacts of colonisation."

Her comments were labelled a "betrayal" and "offensive" by then Minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney.

"We only have to look at the Stolen Generations and the impacts that has had, in terms of ongoing trauma and pain. Her comments are a betrayal of so many people's stories," she said at the time.

The event is scheduled to take place on Friday in Bunbury.

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