Peter Dutton has been trying to distance himself from Donald Trump amid the backlash to US tariffs, but Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price is making that difficult.
A photo of Senator Price wearing a ‘Make America Great Again’ hat has surfaced after she evoked Trump’s signature line over the weekend.
The senator used a localised version of the phrase when she addressed a bowling club in Perth on Saturday, saying the Coalition would ‘Make Australia Great Again’.
This was at odds with the Coalition’s efforts on the campaign trail to distance itself from the US President after he imposed tariffs on Australian exports and his local popularity took a dive.
The NT senator then claimed she did not recall using the line, saying ‘If I said that, I didn’t even realise I said that, but no, I’m an Australian and I want to ensure that we get Australia back on track’.
Labor MP Jason Clare said the Coalition ‘just want to import US polices and US slogans to Australia’ and posted the clip of Senator Price saying ‘make Australia great again’ to social media.
‘The only thing (Senator Price) didn’t have today was the (Make America Great Again) hat,’ Labor’s campaign spokesman said.
But the MAGA hat soon emerged, with a photo of the senator wearing one while standing beside a man in a MAGA Santa hat, while someone also held a doll of Mr Trump wearing the famous hat.
A photo of Coalition Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price wearing a ‘Make America Great Again’ (pictured) hat has surfaced after she evoked the phrase over the weekend
US President Donald Trump (right) is pictured with a supporter wearing a Make America Great Again hat
A spokeswoman for Nationals leader David Littleproud said Senator Price ‘inadvertently made these comments (which evoked the US President).
‘It’s nothing about trying to channel Trump at all,’ she told Weekend Today, adding that Labor was running a ‘smear’ campaign over ‘a slip of the tongue’.
Senator Price, who led the Coalition’s campaign against an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, accused the media of being obsessive.
‘Let’s be very, very clear, media, you’re all obsessed with Donald Trump. We’re not. We’re actually obsessed with ensuring that we can improve the circumstances for Australians,’ she said.
She said the Opposition wants to win the May 3 federal election to ‘ensure that we get Australia back on track’.
Throughout the election campaign, Labor has repeatedly tried to link the Coalition to the Trump administration, comparing Peter Dutton’s vow to slash the public service with what is happening in the US under the Department of Government Efficiency, which was previously led by billionaire Elon Musk.
In January, Senator Price, who is the Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians, was also given the portfolio of ‘government efficiency’, echoing the name of the new US department.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers referred to the Opposition leader as ‘DOGE-y Dutton’ after he pledged to axe 41,000 jobs in the public sector if he wins power.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton is pictured with Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price
At Labor’s campaign launch on Sunday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said ‘our plan to build Australia’s future is not (about) borrowing ideologies or copying policies from anywhere else, or anyone else’.
Mr Dutton said he would rather ‘deal with the reality for people’ in Australia rather than focus on a non-existent relationship between himself and Mr Trump.
‘I really think that if we want to make their lives better and we want to get our country back on track, we have to change the government,’ he said.
‘And I think that’s the point that any objective person would make at the moment.’
Senator Price and the Coalition campaign have been contacted for comment.
