Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price is using comments made by journalist Lisa Wilkinson to urge supporters to donate to Fair Australia’s ‘no’ campaign for the Voice to Parliament referendum, Guardian Australia reports.
Wilkinson and Network Ten released a statement of apology to Nampijinpa Price last week for the comments that were made in a leaked recording between Wilkinson and Brittany Higgins.
In the recording, Wilkinson could be heard struggling to pronounce Nampijinpa Price’s name and questioning the validity of her preselection as a senator.
Nampijinpa Price, who is one the most vocal opponents to the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, sent an email to supporters that referenced Wilkinson’s comments, requesting donations to the ‘no’ campaign. In the email, Nampijinpa Price said that Wilkinson was an “elitist” and called the Voice to Parliament “divisive”.
The audio recording of Wilkinson’s comments came from a private meeting prior to Higgins’ interview on The Project in 2021. Lawyers for Network Ten have said the publication of the audio recording in the media recently was unathorised and complained to police that it could be a suspected contempt of court.
In her apology statement to Nampijinpa Price, Wilkinson said: “The conversation was private and not intended to appear as it has out of context and in the public arena. I sincerely apologise to Senator Price for any offence I may have caused.”
Nampijinpa Price’s fundraising efforts come as the Fair Australia ‘no’ campaign is set to ramp up in the coming months.
The Senate is set to pass legislation on Monday that will finalise the wording of the question that will be put to the public in the referendum, as well as the changes to the constitution. Once the legislation is passed, the referendum will be held within six months, most likely later in the year.
Minister for Indigenous Australians told ABC Radio National on Monday that she was feeling “quite emotional” about the Voice legislation passing through parliament and was looking forward to seeing the ‘yes’ campaign in full swing.