Jacinta Nampijinpa Price facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price
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Price in 2023
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| Senator for the Northern Territory | |
| Assumed office 21 May 2022 |
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| Preceded by | Sam McMahon |
| Mayor of Alice Springs | |
| Acting 7 August 2020 – 7 September 2020 |
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| Mayor | Damien Ryan |
| Deputy Mayor of Alice Springs | |
| In office 29 September 2020 – 28 August 2021 |
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| Preceded by | Jamie DeBrenni |
| Succeeded by | Eli Melky |
| Councillor for the Town of Alice Springs | |
| In office 10 October 2015 – 28 August 2021 |
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| Preceded by | Liz Martin |
| Succeeded by | Michael Liddle |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Jacinta Yangapi Nampijinpa Price
12 May 1981 Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia |
| Political party | Liberal (federal; since 2025) Country Liberal (territory) |
| Other political affiliations |
National (federal; 2022–2025) |
| Spouse | Colin Lillie |
| Relations |
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| Children | 3 |
Jacinta Yangapi Nampijinpa Price (born 12 May 1981) is an Australian politician. She is a senator for the Northern Territory in the Australian Parliament. She started this role after the 2022 Australian federal election.
Jacinta Price is a member of the Country Liberal Party. This party works in the Northern Territory. It is linked to the Liberal–National Coalition in federal politics. Since May 2025, she has been part of the Liberal Party in federal parliament. Before that, she was with the Nationals.
Since April 2023, she has been the Shadow Minister for Indigenous Affairs. This means she is a main spokesperson for her party on issues affecting Indigenous Australians. She also became the Shadow Minister for Government Efficiency before the 2025 Australian federal election.
Jacinta Price has Aboriginal and Anglo-Celtic family roots. Her mother, Bess Price, is a Warlpiri woman and a former politician. Her father is an educator with Irish family. Before politics, Jacinta Price was an entertainer. She sang, wrote songs, and hosted a children's TV show called Yamba Playtime. In 2015, she was elected to the Alice Springs Town Council.
Her work and views mostly focus on issues for Aboriginal communities. She supports conservative Aboriginal politics in Australia. She was against the idea of an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. She also believes that changing Australia Day or the Australian flag does not help Aboriginal people.
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Early Life
Jacinta Price was born on 12 May 1981 in Darwin, Northern Territory. She grew up in Alice Springs. Her father, David Price, has Anglo-Celtic family. He was born in Newcastle, New South Wales. Her mother, Bess Price, is a Warlpiri woman. Bess Price was also a politician in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly.
Her parents met in Yuendumu in 1976. They both worked at the local school. Her father taught in a program that used two languages. Her mother helped create reading materials in the Warlpiri language.
Jacinta Price's mother, Bess Price, was also a member of the Country Liberal Party. She was a minister in the government of Adam Giles. She supported the Howard government's 2007 Northern Territory National Emergency Response. This was a plan to help Aboriginal communities.
Jacinta Price has written that her mother was "born under a tree". She lived in a traditional Warlpiri way on Aboriginal land. Her first language was Warlpiri. Her grandparents first met white settlers in the 1940s.
As a child, Jacinta Price traveled a lot with her family. They camped in the bush. By age seven, she had visited every Australian state. By age 12, she had traveled around the world.
TV and Music
Jacinta Price is a singer, songwriter, and recording artist. She won a NAIDOC Award for her music. As a child, she learned to play the violin. Later, she joined hip-hop groups. She started performing rap and hip-hop with her cousins when she was about 15. In 2001, she sang the national anthem for a big festival.
In 2013, she released her first music album called Dry River. It had folk, soul, and country music. The songs were about her life growing up in Central Australia. One radio station said her sound was like Tracy Chapman. The album was produced by Bill Chambers and her husband, Colin Lillie. Jacinta Price also helped create the Desert Divas program. This program helps talented female Indigenous musicians.
Jacinta Price also worked in children's television. She was on the show Yamba's Playtime. She played the best friend of the main character, Yamba the Honey Ant. She is also a regular guest on Sky News Australia.
Starting in Politics
Alice Springs Council
Jacinta Price was elected as a councillor for the Alice Springs Town Council in October 2015. A councillor helps make decisions for the local town. Her mother, Bess Price, who was a minister at the time, oversaw her official swearing-in.
She worked with the council's Youth Action Group. She helped create fun and creative chances for young people in Alice Springs.
In 2017, she was the top vote-getter for councillor in Alice Springs. She said she was dedicated to the council. However, six months later, she decided to try for a federal parliament role. She wanted to be the candidate for the Division of Lingiari in the 2019 Australian federal election. In September 2020, she became the Deputy Mayor of Alice Springs. She served until August 2021.
Running for Federal Parliament
Jacinta Price ran for the Country Liberal Party in the Division of Lingiari in the 2019 Australian federal election. She did not win this election. She received 44.54 percent of the votes. The long-serving Labor politician Warren Snowdon won with 55.46 percent.
Becoming a Senator
Jacinta Price became a Senator for the Northern Territory in the 2022 Australian federal election. A Senator is a member of one of Australia's two main law-making bodies. She won against Sam McMahon to get this position. She was chosen as the top candidate for her party in the election. She won one of the two Senate seats for the Northern Territory. The other seat went to Labor's Malarndirri McCarthy. Senators from a territory start their term right away.
First Speech in the Senate
Jacinta Price gave her first speech in the Senate on 27 July 2022. She wore a traditional headdress for this important speech. She spoke about her main goals. These included better housing, safety for women, and economic growth. She also called for stronger law and order in remote communities.
Some important people praised her speech. An Indigenous leader, Warren Mundine, called it the "greatest speech" he had heard in parliament. A journalist, Greg Sheridan, called it "magnificent."
Shadow Minister Role
Jacinta Price was named the Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians on 18 April 2023. A "shadow minister" is a member of the opposition party. They watch over the government's minister for that area. They also propose their party's ideas.
Changing Political Parties
When she first became a Senator, Jacinta Price was part of the National Party. But in May 2025, she decided to join the Liberal Party. She said the Liberals were her "natural home." Usually, Senators from her party sit with the Nationals.
On 11 May, she announced she would try to become the Liberal deputy leader. She supported Angus Taylor for the leadership. She said the Liberals needed to speak for "forgotten people." Some National Senators did not agree with her decision to change parties.
Her Views and Work
Jacinta Price's work mainly focuses on issues for Aboriginal communities.
Helping Aboriginal Communities
Jacinta Price has conservative views on issues facing Aboriginal communities. She has said she does not like "paternalistic" ways of dealing with Aboriginal self-rule. She supports strong law and order. She believes everyone should be equal under the law. She also wants to end welfare reliance.
Australia Day
Jacinta Price believes that calls to change Australia Day or the Australian flag do not help Aboriginal people move forward.
In 2018, she supported a campaign to "Save Australia Day." In 2021, she again said that changing the date of Australia Day would not make Aboriginal people's lives better. She called Australia Day a "magical day." She disagreed with claims that the day celebrates the unfair treatment of Aboriginal people.
The Voice to Parliament
Jacinta Price was against the Albanese government's plan for a referendum. This referendum was to put an Indigenous Voice to Parliament into the Australian Constitution. She believed it would create a racially divisive system. She thought it would make Indigenous and non-Indigenous people unequal. She also felt it would suggest Aboriginal people are "separate" from the rest of Australia.
"No" Campaign
Jacinta Price was a main speaker for the "No to Voice" campaign. She appeared in an advertisement with her husband. In it, she spoke about her life and growing up in Alice Springs. She asked people to vote against the "race-based referendum." She said she did not want her family to be divided by race. In an interview, she called the Indigenous Voice to Parliament a "divisive and dangerous" system. However, she said she supports recognizing Indigenous Australians in the constitution. The Australian people voted against the proposal.
"Make Australia Great Again"
During a campaign event in Perth in April 2025, Jacinta Price said she wanted to "make Australia great again." When asked if this was like the slogan used by US President Donald Trump, she said she "hadn't realised" what she said.
Awards and Achievements
Jacinta Price received the first Freedom and Hope Award. This was at a conference in Sydney in October 2022.
During her music career, she was named Artist of the Year at the NAIDOC Awards in 2011. She was also nominated for Most Promising New Talent in Music in the 2012 Deadly Awards. Her album Dry River was a finalist for the NT Song of the Year Awards in 2012.
Personal Life
Jacinta Price has three sons from her first marriage. In 2008, she met Colin Lillie. He is a Scottish-Australian singer and songwriter. They married in a traditional ceremony and then under Australian law. Jacinta Price is also a stepmother to Colin Lillie's son.
Outside of her political role, Jacinta Price worked for the Centre for Independent Studies. This is a research group in Sydney.
