Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price Embroiled in Defamation Drama: ‘Coup’ to Topple Central Land Council CEO Exposed
- Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price is being sued for defamation by the CEO of the Central Land Council, Lesley Turner, over a media release distributed by her office in July 2024.
- The senator conceded she knew about a “coup” to overthrow the CEO but denied being “involved” in the plot during her Federal Court defamation trial.
- Text messages between the senator and a disgraced former principal, Gavin Morris, revealed a plan to replace the CEO, Lesley Turner, with Morris as the new chief executive.
Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has found herself at the centre of a dramatic defamation trial, with allegations of a “coup” to overthrow the CEO of the Central Land Council (CLC), Lesley Turner, coming to light. The senator is being sued by Turner over a media release distributed by her office in July 2024, which claimed the CEO had lost the support of fellow councillors and faced an unsuccessful no-confidence motion at a meeting of male council delegates.
In a sensational turn of events, the court was shown text messages between the senator and disgraced former principal Gavin Morris, who was recently found guilty of physically assaulting four students at Yipirinya School in Alice Springs. The messages revealed a plan to replace Turner with Morris as the new CEO, with Morris telling the senator, “They are planning a coup and getting rid of CEO and executive… I have met with Eva Lawler who knows about this.”
The senator responded, “Thanks, I’ll give you a call early next week if that works?” When questioned about the messages, Senator Nampijinpa Price told the court she thought the plans for a coup were “fantastic” because they were “taking matters into their own hands.” She maintained she was not “involved” in the leadership coup, despite her office assisting Morris in drafting a media release prior to the publication of her own statement.
The senator’s testimony has raised eyebrows, with Turner’s lawyer, Sue Chrysanthou SC, accusing her of being “hypocritical” for complaining about the CLC not affording her the opportunity to respond to serious allegations prior to publication, yet doing the same to Turner. The senator denied the allegations, claiming her media release occurred under “entirely different” circumstances to the 2023 CLC release.
The defamation trial is expected to continue, with parties set to deliver their closing addresses on Tuesday. The judge will then consider his decision in the highly publicised case.