Jacinta Price still on the bill for Liberal fundraiser at Perth Indian community centre

Firebrand Coalition Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price will appear at a Liberal party fundraiser being held at an Indian community centre in Perth’s southern suburbs on Thursday evening despite being sacked from the federal opposition frontbench.

The event, at the Indian Society of WA’s Indian Community Centre in Willetton, will feature Price alongside outspoken conservative WA Liberal powerbroker Nick Goiran. The two guests are billed as being “two MPs who are never afraid to say what needs to be said”.

Internally, the WA Liberal branch is grappling with whether the event should go ahead as it attempts to quell resentment in the Indian community against its party.

WA Liberal leader Basil Zempilas has stridently rejected Price’s comments and wrote to ISWA President Deepak Sharma on Wednesday to relay his regret.

This masthead’s understanding is that ISWA is unhappy with Price’s comments but are fine with the event going ahead given it was booked weeks before the comments and the organisation’s a-political nature. Sharma was approached for comment.

Price was dumped by federal Opposition Leader Sussan Ley late on Wednesday after the senator refused to back Ley’s leadership and explicitly apologise for comments she made last week that Labor brought Indians to Australia because they voted for the party.

One of the WA Liberal fundraiser organisers, upper house MP Michelle Hofmann, confirmed outside WA parliament that Price would speak at the event at the ISWA hall.

“We’re expecting to have a great event tonight. We’ve got 500 tickets sold,” she said.

“There’s a lot of people who are really keen to come and see Jacinta speak tonight.”

Asked whether she was worried Price’s attendance would extend the saga, Hofmann said the event had been lined up for weeks.

WA Labor Housing Minister John Carey said Zempilas needed to cancel the event.

“I think it is very clear that Basil Zempilas is not in control of the Liberal Party; the least he could do is cancel the event,” Carey said.

“If he’s claimed that he’s concerned about the impact on the Indian community, he has to cancel the event.”

Zempilas had not planned to attend the fundraiser and said he was fine with it going ahead.

“I accept that. Senator Jacinta Price is part of the panel that will appear at that event, and that is fair enough,” Zempilas said.

“That event was organised some time ago. It is not unusual for candidates, and for that matter, for MPs to hold events.

“It’s not unusual for events to be held at any time during the year. This was organised some time ago, and it will continue.”

Zempilas said he had spoken to Sharma, who had relayed to him that the society didn’t have an issue with the event taking place at the Willetton centre, and claimed the Price saga was not a distraction nor embarrassing for his team.

“I’m not embarrassed, and I am committed to what I am here to do, and that is to hold this government to account ... on wrong priorities,” Zempilas said.

Indian migrant and WA community advocate Suresh Rajan said many members of the Indian diaspora were offended by Price’s remarks and her attendance at the event.

“Twenty per cent of doctors, 19 per cent of nurses, 10 per cent of engineers, 2 per cent of all academics are Indian, and Indians make up 3.1 per cent of the population,” he said.

“We bat well above our averages. That’s what is offensive, is that she has reduced us down to people who only want to vote for Labor and that is the only basis for coming to this country.”

Labor MP and Indian migrant Jagadish Krishnan said he didn’t see how the event could proceed without an apology from Price.

“I don’t see how the event can go ahead in good faith if the apology is not offered – she missed out an opportunity yesterday in front of media to just put this issue to bed and move on,” he said.

“I hope we can move on from here, rather than continuing with the debate of trying to divide the community.”

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