Liberal Leader Sussan Ley Dumps Jacinta Price from Her Ministry
The biggest story in Australian politics this week has been Liberal Leader Sussan Ley’s sacking of Jacinta Price from her Shadow Ministry for her remarks on Indian immigration and failing to express confidence in her leadership.
This all began on September 3 when Jacinta Price appeared on the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing program hosted by Patricia Karvelas to defend the August 31 March for Australia rallies against mass migration.
It was also National Flag Day where earlier in the Senate, Jacinta Price and Pauline Hanson were ordered by the Senate President to remove Australian flags that were draped over them. This was after Greens Nick McKim complained they were props and demanded the same right to wrap himself in the Palestinian flag.
Price told Karvelas that our infrastructure and housing supply can’t keep up with the core number of immigrants coming into Australia. She then accused the Labor Government of ensuring that they were bringing in migrants who will vote for them and specifically named the Indian community.
An hour after the interview aired Price put out a statement saying it was a mistake to suggest Australia had anything other than a non-discriminatory migration policy.
Various Australian Indian individuals and communities groups took offence at Price comments. The next day Price told the media she felt she didn’t have anything to apologise for.
When Price said 85% of Indian Australians voted for the Labor Party at the last federal election she was quoting RedBridge Polling Director and former Labor campaigner Kos Samaras who stated this on a livestream with Drew Pavlou.
Labor pollster Kos Samaras revealed on my live stream that the Indian diaspora voted 85% for Labor at the last election
— Drew Pavlou 🇦🇺🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼 (@DrewPavlou) September 9, 2025
The Liberal Party is currently being consumed by civil war because Jacinta Price cited this statistic from Kos
pic.twitter.com/yNu5KAbqZo
On September 5 Price did an interview with the Editor of the Indian Australian news website The Australia Today followed by a statement on her social media recognising the contributions Indian Australians make to the nation.
But the pressure on Jacinta Price to apologise intensified, led by her own Liberal colleagues. Sussan Ley said on ABC Insiders on Sunday that the comments were wrong won’t be repeated. Manager of Government Business Alex Hawke told Sky News Sunday Agenda that he had called Price and asked her to apologise.
Price said this did occurred and accsuded Alex Hawke cowardly and inappropriate conduct by berating one of her staff and that if she did not comply with his request she’d end up like another female member of the Coalition who it is believed to be reference to Jane Hume who was sacked from the Shadow Ministry for her chinese spies on Labor booths before the the last election.
That evening Sussan Ley visited Sydney’s Little India in Harris Park with her Shadow Immigration and Multicultural Minister, Paul Scarr and her Shadow Attorney General.
Good to spend time at Little India tonight, hearing directly from small business owners and their staff. pic.twitter.com/NW45ambUCO
— Sussan Ley (@sussanley) September 7, 2025
But some Indian businesses refused to host them saying they would not engage with the Liberals unless Price apologised or was sacked from the Shadow Ministry
Her former Nationals colleagues Bridget McKenzie and Barnaby Joyce said she should apologise. Shadow Attorney-General Julian Lesser apologised on her behalf during a speech at a Hindi language school in his Berowra electorate.
Things came to a head on Wednesday when Jacinta Price was asked if she had confidence in Sussan Ley’s leadership. That evening Sussan Ley sacked Jacinta Price as Shadow Minister for Defence Industry and Personnel
Many conservatives and nationalists viewed this action by Sussan Ley as the beginning of the end for her leadership. Former Institute of Public Affairs fellow and ex-Liberal Party member Gideon Rozner noted the similarities between the treatment of Jacinta Price by Sussan Ley and the treatment of Moira Deeming by former Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto.
The treatment of @JNampijinpa is hauntingly similar to the Moira Deeming affair.
— Gideon Rozner (@GideonCRozner) September 10, 2025
Act 1: Conservative woman unfairly accused of racism.
Act 2: Liberals are terrified by unfair accusations of racism.
Act 3: Conservative woman booted.
Ask John Pesutto what happens in Act 4. pic.twitter.com/KDNJgGl7O7
Yesterday Sussan Ley decided to apologise for Jacinta Price’s comments herself. Liberal leadership contender Andrew Hastie said the knives aren’t out for Sussan Ley’s leadership. At this stage, Ley herself has not been asked by the media about the future of her leadership.
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