Senator Nampijinpa Price talks to Chris Kenny, Sky News 

14 April 2026

Subjects: Australian Values Migration Plan, One Nation failures in hiring

E&OE……………

CHRIS KENNY:

Let's go to Perth now and catch up with Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, who is the Shadow Small Business Minister. Good to talk to you again, Jacinta. Give us your thoughts on this major speech by your leader, Angus Taylor, today, really taking it up to the Government in terms of a decent immigration policy. The immediate retort from the Government is that you're trying, the Coalition now is trying to outflank One Nation.

SENATOR JACINTA NAMPIJINPA PRICE:

Well, look, of course, they're going to attempt to say that that's the case when they know that they themselves have failed miserably when it's come to immigration policy in this country, given the fact that by the end of this term, they'll have introduced over two million people into the country. And the problem is that when the numbers are too high, and the standards are too low, which it has been under this government, Australians are the ones that feel it and suffer for it in the end in terms of when it comes to housing, the associated costs and the cost of living that we're experiencing, but also the pressure that's on our services. And Australians expect a system that puts them first. They expect to be able to choose who comes to this country and under what circumstances. Living in Australia is an absolute privilege, and Australians expect that privilege to ultimately be respected, and that our laws, our values, and our way of life are respected as well. So, Angus’ plan, our plan through the Coalition and the policy announcements that will continue to follow, is to make Australian values the centrepiece of migration in our country. And of course, you'll get the government whinging about it because they're not doing anything about it, but they're making life tougher for Australians. Our job in opposition is to scrutinise them for their failings, which is what we have been doing, and to present a viable alternative, where our focus is to restore our standard of living and protect our way of life in this country, and particularly after the events at Bondi. This is what I would think is the obvious approach to take. And the problem is Anthony Albanese cannot bring himself to put Australians first and to put Australian values first.

CHRIS KENNY:

I think most Australians would agree with every word in Angus Taylor's speech and like the idea of these principles being put in place when it comes to our immigration system, but implementing them is a difficult matter. How do you judge the values of people coming in? You can maybe obviously interview them, but they'll know what you want to hear. People can search their social media profiles. I'm just interested in how you're going to make those assessments. And for instance, when we talk about extremism in the Islamic faith and fundamentalism, would a family where all the adult women are forced to wear a full burqa, would that family meet Australian values?

SENATOR JACINTA NAMPIJINPA PRICE:

Look, I'm sure those details will come as we go further along with regard to this. But for example, in recent times, the last two hate preachers that the Albanese government were prepared to provide visas to enter the country, all you had to do was do a Google search on them, which is what we did and brought that to Tony Burke's attention. It was quite simple. There was one that had 10 million followers, that was a person that delivered hate speech. Given the rise in antisemitism in our country, and as I said, following on from Bondi, it wasn't hard to find out exactly what these individuals thought and felt — their beliefs and values, and they were not compatible with Australian values. And so, what we want to be able to do is shut the door to these individuals to prevent them from coming here and undermining our way of life. And I should imagine that in this day and age, it's not that hard to make those determinations about people.

CHRIS KENNY:

Now, Angus Taylor also points out that you're more likely to have successive people adopting our values if they come from liberal democracies. When you look at some of the largest cohorts of immigrants into the country, you're talking about China and India. Doesn't that mean that Indian migrants would be prioritised over those Chinese, from communist China?

SENATOR JACINTA NAMPIJINPA PRICE:

Well, look, again, these policy details will come to fruition as we go forward. And no doubt that Angus, along with Jonno Duniam will make those determinations in terms of the strengths of liberal democracies that we share values with. And also, you know, migrants who we know are fundamentally going to contribute positively to our country, like the many who are now permanent Australians, or generations of migrants whose parents or grandparents have come here and contributed to our way of life and who are calling for standards to be brought up. They are who we will be focusing on and those details will come in good time.

CHRIS KENNY:

Now Jacinta, you were critical of Pauline Hanson for employing a convicted rapist in her office, Sean Black, as I have been on this program, and she's since terminated the employment of that person. But Pauline Hanson seemed to take particular exception to your criticism. Here's what she said on Radio 2SM.

[CLIP STARTS]

PAULINE HANSON:

It just disgusts me, that I didn't think Jacinta would get in the gutter of politics of all this. The man's gone. You should have seen the look on his wife's face when I had to say— and I, I said no I'm going to do this myself and I went around and I faced both them and the wife... you know, I don't condone this sort of action but you've got to understand people need a second chance and they're still not giving it to him of all people, Jacinta Price, let it go.

[CLIP ENDS]

CHRIS KENNY:

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, your reaction to that?

SENATOR JACINTA NAMPIJINPA PRICE:

Look, this is about maintaining standards, and there's a standard that I will maintain across the board. I have been vehement and outspoken and ostracised by parts of the Indigenous community for my stance on ensuring that we stop domestic and family violence and sexual abuse. I've got a strong record on that. So I will maintain that, regardless of who that is in relation to. But I think that if you hold a position of power within the Federal Parliament, it is incumbent upon you to maintain a standard also. I mean, it should never have actually got to this point, I believe, and it goes to having sound judgment as well. To employ somebody who is a convicted rapist who has done hard time, and who then has influence in terms of policy and can walk the hallways of power, I think, is poor judgment, but it's a standard again that I maintain across the board. I'm not just speaking as an advocate in a very serious area, but I'm coming from being a survivor of sexual assault myself. And that for anyone who's been in that situation, I'd hope, you know, I'm sure that they would believe that they personally would not want to be confronted with the idea of working in the same workspace as an individual such as that. But again, it is about — this is an expectation that I would have across all political parties to practice sound judgment when it comes to those individuals. And look, I feel for the wife and the children in this situation, but the bottom line is, if you can't pass a Working With Children Check, then you shouldn't have access to a very influential position. And, you know, I've called it out within Indigenous organisations, I will continue to call it out wherever I see it, and that includes in the parliamentary offices.

CHRIS KENNY:

Thanks so much for joining us, Jacinta. I appreciate it greatly. That's Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, Shadow Small Business Minister.

[Ends]