The Liberal senator ‘tarnished’ reputation of Central Land Council chief, court hears, but she says there was public interest
A Liberal senator accused of defaming the head of a large Aboriginal land council was an evasive witness who made baseless allegations and gave “illogical and self-serving” answers, a court has been told.
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has been sued by Central Land Council chief executive, Lesley Turner, over an allegedly defamatory media release in July 2024 that claimed there had been a failed no-confidence motion against him.
The release also accused Turner of unprofessional conduct by failing to help poverty-stricken Aboriginal people who were living in tin sheds.
Council chair, Matthew Palmer had earlier issued a release including the same allegedly defamatory claim, which was picked up by Nampijinpa Price and reported by the News Corp-owned NT News and the ABC.
In her closing submission at the federal court defamation trial in Darwin on Tuesday, Turner’s barrister, Sue Chrysanthou SC, said the senator had “sought to tarnish my client’s reputation, and she has done so” by repeatedly defaming him.
“She was told that her publication was wrong nearly immediately by the Central Land Council on the morning of 11 July, but she just didn’t care,” Chrysanthou said.
“She promoted and promulgated her defamation on Facebook to print journalists, with quotes through her staff, in broadcast interviews … and her defamation was repeated and circulated.”
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