Liberal MP Alex Hawke has called on Jacinta Nampijinpa Price to apologise for the “real damage” her comments have caused the Indian community as the fallout continues internally and externally for the party.
The opposition has scrambled to repair ties with Indian Australians after Price’s remarks. On Monday, the Liberal leader, Sussan Ley, convened a roundtable with community leaders. The day before she toured Sydney’s Harris Park – known as “little India”.
Price has clarified but not explicitly apologised for comments that claimed the federal government’s migration program favoured some countries over others to win votes, naming the Indian community as an example.
Appearing on ABC’s Insiders on Sunday, Ley also refused to apologise on behalf of the Northern Territory senator and the Liberal party.
On Sunday, Price accused Hawke of berating a member of her staff shortly after he called following her interview on the ABC.
In a social media post, she alleged Hawke told her staff that she “may end up like another female member of the Coalition” if the senator did not comply with his requests.
Hawke, who was a key backer of Ley’s leadership tilt and was elevated to the frontbench in her ministry reshuffle, rejected the assertion. He told Sky News he had been trying to directly reach Price to convince her to immediately apologise.
Sign up: AU Breaking News email
“All I said to Jacinta was ‘would you consider apologising to the community for making a mistake about the remarks’,” he said.
“After those flyers we saw before the anti-immigration rallies, which singled out the Indian community, this was a particularly bad week for these comments.”
Hawke refused to reveal what he had said to Price’s staff and denied the conversation, which he said lasted no more than two minutes, had anything to do with gender.
“I was of the view an apology would fix this. I was of the view that an apology would fix it quickly because she didn’t mean it. I said to her, I don’t think you’re a racist person,” he said.
“I’ve looked at the damage in the community and there is real damage now on both sides.”
In a separate interview with the ABC on Monday afternoon, Hawke refuted as “total gossip” claims that his phone call with Price’s office had lasted longer than five minutes.
On the ABC last Wednesday, Price had claimed without evidence the federal government was bringing in migrants to win votes and named the “Indian community” as an example of that.
According to the polling company Redbridge Group, Hawke, the member for Mitchell, is just one of two Liberal MPs who holds one of the 50 seats across the country with the highest number of first and second-generation migrants. The other is Julian Leeser in the seat of Berowra.
Hume, who was reported to be the other “female member” in question, told Sky News on Monday that she was reeling from the apparent reference in Hawke’s comment to Price.
after newsletter promotion
“I’m still reeling a little bit … I’m not entirely sure what this is all about and why my name needs to be included.
“Look, I would hope that the Liberal party has moved on from some of the bad behaviour in the past but that’s going to be up to the leader [Ley] to demonstrate what behaviour and standards she expects of the people that work around her.”
Hume was sent to the backbench by Ley after the election.
Hawke said Hume was not the subject of his comments. “No, Jane isn’t involved into this and I wouldn’t drag her into it,” he said.
“I’ve raised the immigration issue and I’ve raised the race issue. I can’t see how it has a gender perspective.”
The only Liberal of Indian descent in the House, Leon Rebello, told the Guardian that Price’s comments were unhelpful and it was important that they were called out. But Rebello, whose parents were born in India, stopped short of calling on Price or Ley to apologise.
“The party now needs to make sure there is support for the Indian community and that we represent them to the best of our ability,” he said.
He added that the timing – which followed multiple anti-immigration marches last weekend – was unfortunate.
Hawke was one of several voices calling on Price to apologise on Monday. Barnaby Joyce also told the senator to apologise in order to move on from the issue. But Joyce said he backed Price’s point that migration was out of control.
“You make mistakes in politics all the time and the best thing to do is apologise and move on and get off it, get on to another topic,” he told Channel 7. “It’s just the nature of politics.”
