Assistant Minister calls comments “offensive” as Liberals weigh potential frontbench return for controversial senator
MELBOURNE, 16 February 2026: Assistant Minister for Citizenship, Customs and Multicultural Affairs Julian Hill MP has again criticised Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, saying she remains “as wrong now as she was before” over renewed allegations that Labor is prioritising migration from India to win votes.
The controversy reignited after Senator Price appeared on The Karl Stefanovic Show, where she declared, “I’m back, baby,” and insisted she had “nothing to apologise for” regarding past remarks about Indian migration.
News.com.au reports Price is likely to return to the Liberal frontbench under Angus Taylor’s leadership. During the segment, she said: “I was having a breather, but I’m back. The fire’s back.”
Hill responded sharply:
“Not even three days into Angus Taylor’s leadership and it seems the Liberals have learnt nothing. Jacinta Price’s comments about Australians of Indian heritage were wrong and are just as offensive today as when she first made them.
She never apologised — and Sussan Ley had the guts to sack her. This is now a test for Angus Taylor. It’s up to the Liberal Party to explain why they keep getting embroiled in issues of race.
No matter where people come from, Australians can vote for whoever they want. The idea that people of a particular heritage all think the same is offensive.”
Price was removed from the shadow ministry last year after refusing to apologise for suggesting Labor favoured Indian migrants to expand its voter base. Then Opposition Leader Sussan Ley cited her refusal to apologise and a lack of confidence in her leadership.
While Price later described her original ABC remarks as “clumsy,” she has continued to criticise Labor’s “mass migration” program, arguing it strains housing and public services.
In the September 2025 ABC interview that sparked the controversy, Price alleged Labor was allowing “large numbers” of Indian people to migrate because “the [Indian] community votes for Labor,” citing a RedBridge poll she said showed around 85 per cent of Indian‑heritage Australians supported Labor in 2022.
Although she later acknowledged it was wrong to imply Australia’s migration system is discriminatory, Price maintains she has “nothing to apologise for,” insisting her concern is about the scale, not the source, of migration.
Senior Liberals — including Sussan Ley and Senator Dave Sharma — have distanced themselves, calling her comments “wrong,” “poorly articulated,” and damaging to efforts to engage multicultural communities.
A number of Indian community organisations continue to urge Price to issue a clear apology, describing her remarks as “hurtful” and “stigmatising.”
