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Shadow Minister for Defence Industry and Defence Personnel Senator Jacinta Price has contradicted Shadow Industry Minister Alex Hawke's account of their controversial phone exchange, claiming his call to her office lasted five to six minutes and included veiled threats about her frontbench position.
Price told Sky News Monday night that she has asked Opposition Leader Susan Ley to demand an apology from Hawke for what she described as inappropriate conduct toward her staff following her comments about Indian Australian voting patterns.
"My concern is that my colleague did berate my staffer, which was the reason for why I contacted him in the first instance because of that conversation, which took about five or six minutes with my staffer, not one to two," Price said during the Credlin program.
The dispute centers on Hawke's Thursday morning call to Price's office after her ABC interview suggesting Labor imports Indian migrants because they vote for the party. Hawke earlier told Sky News the conversation lasted one to two minutes and denied berating anyone.
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Price said Hawke's mention of another colleague's circumstances constituted a threat to her position.
"And also, you know, to suggest to bring another colleague's circumstances into that, into the picture, was certainly viewed as a threat," she said.
The senator expressed surprise that Ley had not contacted her directly about the controversial comments, suggesting the leader did not view them as urgent.
"I suppose it did surprise me. And I guess I would expect that I would hear directly from the leader herself if it was of huge concern. It didn't appear to be of huge concern," Price said.
She described Hawke's tone during their subsequent conversation as aggressive.
"I suppose I made that clear also to understand from Alex why it was that he felt the need to call me and talk to me in quite an aggressive tone," Price said.
The controversy began with Price's Wednesday ABC interview where she suggested Labor was "importing too many migrants" from the Indian community due to their voting patterns.
"There is a concern with the Indian community and only because there's been large numbers and we can see that reflected in the way that the community votes for Labor at the same time," Price said in the original interview.
On Monday, Price maintained her regret was about clarity rather than substance, saying she had since made clarifications including speaking to an Indian media outlet.
"The regret that I have is that I wasn't clearer in terms of my comments on the ABC. And since then, you know, created those, made those points very clear and made a clarification," she said.
She confirmed speaking to Australia Today India on Friday to address concerns directly with the Indian community.
"And also on Friday, spoke to Australia Today and India, Indian media outlet about in order to make those clarifications and had a very lovely conversation with them after they reached out to me to do so," Price said.
Price acknowledged the Liberal Party's failure to engage multicultural communities effectively while defending her broader concerns about migration levels.
"Oh, look, absolutely. That is correct, Peter. And, you know, I've always recognised members of our migrant community who are doing a remarkable job," she said.
She detailed her own positive relationships with Indian community members in her electorate through her previous roles as councillor and deputy mayor.
"I've got a great relationship with Indian members within my own community that I have supported, including business people in my community over the years," Price said.
However, she criticized Labor's approach to courting migrant votes, drawing parallels with Indigenous communities.
"I suppose the point that I wanted to make was the way in which Labor does aggressively court the migrant community as they do the Indigenous community," Price said.
"Coming from somebody who's part of a minority community, I know the aggressiveness with which Labor goes after Indigenous voters. And that is a point that I was certainly making as well," she said.
Price expressed disappointment that colleagues focused on her comments rather than broader migration concerns.
"Another thing that I guess disappointed me was the fact that some of my colleagues chose to ignore those elements of this entire argument, but instead adopted the left-wing media's approach to, I suppose, applying pressure to me, instead of pointing out those very facts," she said.
She confirmed her intention to continue advocating for reduced migration levels while emphasizing the focus should be on numbers rather than origins.
"It's not about who's coming in. It's about how many migrants are coming and the pressure, the fact that we just can't, we simply can't provide for such great numbers," Price said.
The senator said infrastructure pressures from migration affect hospitals, schools and housing availability for Australian families.
"I wanted to make the point that mass migration is of huge concern and that it does apply pressure on Australian families, on our infrastructure, on our hospitals, schools, our housing," she said.
Price framed her dispute with Hawke as part of broader concerns about support for Liberal women, requesting Ley intervene on her behalf.
"You have asked our leader if she would ask Alex Hawke to apologise to me for his conduct. You know, again, I'm a Liberal woman and Liberal women need to be able to feel like they're being supported wholeheartedly," she said.
The escalating internal dispute threatens to overshadow the Liberal Party's recent parliamentary victories, including forcing government concessions on aged care packages.
National MP Barnaby Joyce earlier urged Price to apologize and move forward, describing mistakes as normal in politics requiring simple apologies to resolve.
Former frontbencher Jane Hume, whose name was allegedly mentioned in Hawke's call, told Sky News she remained bewildered by being drawn into the controversy and urged the party to move on.
The controversy has generated significant community reaction, with Price acknowledging ongoing engagement with Indian Australian representatives while maintaining her position on migration policy.
Liberal colleagues remain divided on the appropriate response, with some supporting calls for an apology while others emphasize the need to move beyond the issue.
The dispute reveals deeper tensions within the Opposition about crisis management, internal communication protocols and approaches to multicultural community relations.
Price's decision to publicly contradict Hawke's account and demand an apology represents a significant escalation in what began as disagreement over policy comments.
The senator's emphasis on Liberal women's treatment adds another dimension to the internal party conflict, potentially broadening the controversy beyond the original migration comments.
Ley faces pressure to resolve the dispute while maintaining party unity ahead of continued parliamentary sittings and ongoing political challenges.
The controversy continues generating media attention and community discussion about migration policy, multicultural relations and internal Liberal Party dynamics.
Price's appearance on Sky News provided the most detailed account yet of her perspective on both the original comments and subsequent internal party handling of the situation.
Her confirmation of direct engagement with Indian media outlets demonstrates attempts to address community concerns while maintaining her broader policy positions.
The ongoing dispute reflects broader challenges facing opposition parties in managing internal disagreements while maintaining public credibility and community relationships.
As the controversy enters its second week, resolution appears dependent on leadership intervention and willingness from both Price and Hawke to de-escalate their public disagreement.
The internal party conflict threatens to undermine Liberal efforts to rebuild relationships with multicultural communities while prosecuting the government on migration policy issues.
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