Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price (right) on online multicultural news outlet The Australia Today in damage control. Photo: Screenshot.
One could be forgiven for thinking that apologising for a mistake once you’ve admitted making one is a natural step. The normal and decent thing to do, even.
But not so for Liberal Party frontbencher Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, who just can’t bring herself to say sorry for the hurt she has caused with her wildly insulting comments towards Australia’s Indian community.
She has conceded (through gritted teeth) she made a mistake in suggesting the Federal Government allows a disproportionate number of Indians to migrate to Australia because they are more likely to vote Labor.
Whether she meant it to be or not, that is an awfully divisive and racist thing to say.
The Northern Territory Senator insists her words were not in the least meant to be racist, and – publicly at least – the leadership of the party believes her.
So why can’t she utter the word “sorry”?
Hopefully she still will and hopefully soon.
But so far, Senator Price has put all her efforts into blaming everyone else for the damage she has caused – to the Indian community but also to the Coalition.
She has so far blamed the reporter who was interviewing her at the time she made those divisive remarks for pushing her to say them (that old cliche of an excuse); the media in general for beating the issue up (another cop out); the Labor Party for “weaponising” it all; and Alex Hawke for daring to ask her to apologise.
Hawke is a senior shadow minister and the Manager of Opposition Business in the House of Reps, so he wasn’t just freewheeling when he called Senator Price’s office following her remarks and demanded she publicly apologise for them.
Senator Price has tried to deflect attention away from her hurtful remarks by publicly ratting on a Liberal colleague and making it about Mr Hawke’s approach in his interaction with her and her staff.
She wants the issue to now be about bullying and the need to stand up for women.
But the fact that she won’t apologise to the Indian community for the “mistake” she made in the way she talked about them isn’t going away.
Senator Price has even had a go last night on Sky News (8 September) at Opposition Leader Sussan Ley, saying it should have been her and not Mr Hawke who contacted her about the remarks.
And she wants Ms Ley to make Mr Hawke apologise to her.
“I have asked our leader if she would ask Alex Hawke to apologise to me for his conduct,” Senator Price said.
“I’m a Liberal woman and Liberal women need to be able to feel like they’re being supported wholeheartedly.”
Still no mention at all of an apology for how Senator Price’s own words have made Australia’s Indian community feel.
Mr Hawke says there should be – and he is right.
“This has nothing to do with gender,” he said during one of his many damage-control interviews in recent days.
“This is a race and immigration issue. I am not sure what she is referring to … There is more targeting of them [Indians in Australia] since comments were made, and there is a lot of hurt in those communities.
“There is a real leadership role for Jacinta to play in walking this back a bit further.”
Another surprising element of this sorry saga is that Ms Ley won’t even apologise to the Indian community on behalf of Senator Price.
The Opposition Leader has condemned the remarks and has reached out to the Indian community.
But sorry seems to be the hardest word.
Not for one Liberal frontbencher, Julian Leeser, however.
Mr Leeser has done the noble thing and apologised to the Indian community for Senator Price’s comments.
He apologised in person during a visit to a Hindi school on the weekend, and he has subsequently repeated that apology on a social media post on Monday night.
Apologies go a long way in helping a wound to heal and in allowing all to move on.
But as her track record shows, Senator Price has an exceptionally difficult time apologising for anything she has done.
It is always someone else’s fault.
And, just as is the case in this instance, it is always her party that is left to pick up the pieces and try to repair the damage she has caused.
