Deputy Liberal leader Ted O’Brien refused to say firebrand Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price should apologise for false claims that Labor gives preference to Indian migration to win votes, conceding that while the ensuing infighting was a poor look for the Coalition, Price was an “authentic person” who had clarified her controversial remarks.
Price opted against apologising for the comments in an interview on Sky News last night, instead urging Opposition Leader Sussan Ley to force Liberal colleague Alex Hawke apologise for his handling of the fallout.
Shadow treasurer Ted O’Brien.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
O’Brien said it wasn’t “for me to be saying what somebody should say”, but noted that the Indian community “work so hard” and “reflect the best of Australian values”.
“We have to be ourselves and speak from the heart … I think Jacinta is absolutely an authentic person. She has already said that she wishes to clarify and correct what she said about the Australian Indian community, and she’s done that,” O’Brien told Nine’s Today this morning.
“This is a reminder about how important it is for us to have a multi-ethnic community, and everybody has to be respected.”
Price quickly backtracked on her initial remarks, made last week, but her refusal to apologise has upset Indian Australians and infuriated her Liberal colleagues.
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