Ley Faces Fallout as Price’s Remarks Spark Political Storm
This week in Australian politics, a storm has been brewing around Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, and it’s put opposition leader Sussan Ley in a very difficult position. What should have been a strong week in parliament for Ley turned into a scramble to manage damage control, after Price made comments about Australia’s migration program that caused a major backlash.
Price accused the government of politicising migration, suggesting Indian Australians were being favoured because they tended to vote for Labor. Those remarks landed hard and were quickly criticised as offensive and divisive. Calls came swiftly from within the Coalition ranks for Price to apologise and put the issue to bed. But she refused. Price argued her words had simply been clumsy, not malicious, and she stood her ground.
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Sussan Ley, meanwhile, faced a political dilemma. She didn’t want to apologise on Price’s behalf, insisting that she couldn’t put words in another senator’s mouth. Behind the scenes, colleagues including Alex Hawke urged Price to make amends, saying that while she may not have meant to sound racist, that’s exactly how it was being perceived. Even some of her former allies in the Nationals signaled they didn’t want to be associated with her remarks. In contrast, Julian Leeser, the man Price had replaced in Peter Dutton’s ministry, stepped in to apologise to the Indian Australian community directly.
For Ley, the situation was more than just a bad headline. Price’s refusal to endorse her leadership became the final straw. Just months after being demoted, Price was formally pushed to the backbench. And Ley’s office wanted it known—this was a sacking, not a resignation. By Thursday, Ley herself issued an apology to the Indian Australian community, acknowledging the hurt caused and stressing that migrants face the same struggles as everyone else, particularly in housing.
But the damage was already done. The Coalition has been trying to rebuild its relationship with multicultural communities after past controversies, and this saga only reinforced doubts. For Labor, the episode handed them plenty of ammunition heading into the 2028 campaign.
Still, Ley took a gamble. By acting swiftly against Price, she effectively sent a message to anyone else in her party who might be considering dissent: either back her now, or risk being cast out and linked to remarks that alienated voters. It’s a high-stakes move, especially as the government’s climate targets are set to dominate the agenda and expose further divisions inside the Coalition.
What started as a single remark about migration has now snowballed into a test of leadership, party unity, and credibility with key communities. For Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, it’s meant a rapid fall from a high-profile role back to the sidelines. For Sussan Ley, it’s a reminder that in politics, a leader’s strength is often measured not only by victories, but by how crises are handled in the heat of the moment.
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