‘That’s my choice’ : Jacinta Nampijinpa Price shrugs off angry protestors at campaign event in Bunbury

Coalition Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price shrugged off dozens of protestors at a campaign event in Bunbury today, claiming the choice not to consult with the local Noongar elders before arriving was her right. Liberal candidate for Forrest Ben Small, Senator Michaelia Cash and Senator Nampijinpa Price hosted a town hall event at the Sanctuary Golf Club where they took questions from the public and hoped to sway some unsure voters in the South West. The protest came after local academic Renae Isaacs-Guthridge emailed Mr Small earlier in the week, calling for Senator Nampijinpa Price to be dropped from the event. Ms Isaacs-Guthridge, an academic at Edith Cowan University and Wardandi Custodian, said Senator Nampijinpa Price’s positions on the Voice were considered by many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to be “harmful and dismissive of lived experiences”. “Bringing such perspectives to Wardandi Country without appropriate consultation appears to disregard local cultural protocols and community sentiment,” she said. Protestors gathered at the entrance to golf club chanting “ho ho, Jacinta Price has to go” and displayed a number of anti-Price banners. The town hall meeting was delayed by several minutes while the two senators and the Forrest hopeful entered via a back door to avoid being heckled at the main entrance. A large squad of police and security were on deck to monitor the proceedings. Journalists were denied access to the meeting and waited for more than an hour to speak to the Liberal politicians. When asked why she didn’t speak to the protestors outside Ms Nampijinpa Price said it was “because of the aggression”. “I‘m an Indigenous woman who’s grown up with violence in my community and my extended family — I’ve been a survivor of domestic violence myself,” she said. “I have seen before crowds where there’s potential for violence and aggression and threatening behaviour. “Why should I, as a woman, have to step out into a crowd where there’s even aggressive men. Why should I do that? Would a white woman in this country be expected to go out in front of an aggressive crowd and put themselves potentially in danger?” Ms Nampijinpa Price also accused society of having “double standards” for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians when it comes to adopting certain parts of their respective cultures — such as the protocol for Aboriginals to speak with the elders of a community on arrival. “I’m supposed to live by Aboriginal culture — because I’m Aboriginal, I don’t have the freedom of choice in this country to choose what elements of culture that I want to adopt in my life. “The expectation is that we have to respect elders. We might not even know them, but we have to respect them because we’re told that’s what culture dictates to you. “I don’t know who these elders are. I know elders in my community who have raped children. I’m not going to respect them. I expect that I would respect people mutually and not because of their own appointed status.” “I’m an Australian. If I choose to want to follow parts of traditional culture, that is my choice. But if I don’t want to, that is also my choice.”