Will Jacinta Price cope with billions?

By ERWIN CHLANDA

If the government changes stripe, NT Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price will be wheeling and dealing in billions of dollars, for example, $13.7b for miners’ green hydrogen (“now abandoned”) or $1b for quantum computers.

At least that’s what she’s explained to Sky TV presenter Paul Murray, no doubt her favourite interviewer: “You look amazing, you look great,” he told her on air (photo at top).

As Peter Dutton’s principal adviser about how not to waste public money the Senator will need commercial knowledge at upper stratospheric levels of business decision making.

Does she have it?

We can’t ask her because she declined an interview with the Alice Springs News.

Online she says about herself: “I worked as the Indigenous program director at the Centre for Independent Studies.” That’s a right-wing think tank.

“In 2015 I was elected to the Alice Springs Town Council where I fought hard to improve the lives of Indigenous kids and tackled the tough issues that face our community, like domestic violence.”

Looking at her last year and a half in council that is a claim hard to sustain.

Senator Price says she is “the former deputy mayor of Alice Springs”. That is also the sole CV detail that most media attribute to her.

In fact she is not. She is a former deputy mayor of Alice Springs.

That is not a position gained in public vote, as is the Mayor’s, nor does it last the term, but changes annually in a vote by fellow councillors.

Between January 2020 and August 2021 Ms Price was recorded in the council minutes frequently as a seconder, not the mover of motions, and if as a mover, mostly on procedural issues – confirming the previous meeting’s minutes, re-appointing the debt collection service, accepting staff reports, putting lights into a park.

In September 2020 she accepted a position on the Development Consent Authority.

It all was small stuff.

An exception offered itself in the November 2020 council meeting to “fight hard to improve the lives of Indigenous kids” which is minuted as follows: “Deputy Mayor Price enquired what measures Central Land Council will undertake to support the community in dealing with the various issues arising from youth crime and alcohol abuse. Deputy Mayor Price advised that she would like to see open communication between Council and Central Land Council.”

That raises the question why Cr Price had not created that open communication.

As the daughter of a white teacher on a major remote community, and of Warlpiri woman, Bess Price, who was a CLP minister in the Legislative Assembly 2012-16 , Ms Price might have been well placed to mediate. 

Say the minutes: “The CEO advised that ongoing partnerships are important and that Council can encourage open communication between Council and Central Land Council.”

Cr Eli Melky, also a former Deputy Mayor, today vigorously defends Cr Price for advocating, not acting.

Cr Price’s job, which she did very well, was “loud, consistent” advocacy, presenting an “unwavering message”.

We asked Cr Melky, who joined the council in 2011, whether it troubled him that Cr Price’s advocacy yielded little result as during her term the town slid towards its current crisis.

He replied: “You can’t crucify her for not solving the problem. Advocacy is her success, being in the fight.

“Our role in local government is to advocate to those in power whose responsibility it is to make the changes necessary.

“She did that very well.”