Bess Nungarrayi Price (born 22 October 1960) is an

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

activist and politician. She was a

Country Liberal Party The Country Liberal Party of the Northern Territory (CLP) is a centre-right political party in Australia's Northern Territory. In local politics it operates in a two-party system with the Australian Labor Party (ALP). It also contests federal ...

member of the

Northern Territory Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory is the unicameral legislature of the Northern Territory of Australia. The Legislative Assembly has 25 members, each elected in single-member electorates for four-year terms. The voting method fo ...

from 2012 to 2016, representing the electorate of Stuart, and was Minister for Community Services in the

Giles Ministry The Giles Ministry was the ministry of the tenth Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, Adam Giles. It came into operation on 14 March 2013, following the replacement of Terry Mills as Chief Minister and leader of the Country Liberal Party by ...

. She lives in

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

Central Australia Central Australia, also sometimes referred to as the Red Centre, is an inexactly defined region associated with the geographic centre of Australia. In its narrowest sense it describes a region that is limited to the town of Alice Springs and i ...

, in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

Biography

Born on 22 October 1960 in

Yuendumu Yuendumu is a town in the Northern Territory of Australia, northwest of Alice Springs on the Tanami Road, within the Central Desert Region local government area. It ranks as one of the larger remote communities in central Australia, and has a t ...

, Price's first language is Warlpiri. She also knows

Luritja The Luritja or Loritja people, also known as Kukatja or Kukatja-Luritja, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Northern Territory. Their traditional lands are immediately west of the Derwent River, that forms a frontier with the Arrernte p ...

Western Arrernte Arrernte or Aranda (; ) or sometimes referred to as Upper Arrernte (Upper Aranda), is a dialect cluster in the Arandic language group spoken in parts of the Northern Territory, Australia, by the Arrernte people. Other spelling variations are A ...

and

Anmatyerre The Anmatyerr, also spelt Anmatyerre, Anmatjera, Anmatjirra, Amatjere and other variations) are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Northern Territory, who speak one of the Upper Arrernte languages. Language Anmatyerr is divided into Easte ...

. Price lived in

humpies A humpy, also known as a gunyah, wurley, wurly or wurlie, is a small, temporary shelter, traditionally used by Australian Aboriginal people. These impermanent dwellings, made of branches and bark, are sometimes called a lean-to, since they ofte ...

(traditional Aboriginal dwellings) until she was nine and became a mother at thirteen years of age. A survivor of domestic violence, she left the father of her child when she was 19 and began studying to be a teacher. She attained a Bachelor of Applied Science in Aboriginal Community Management and Development from

Curtin University Curtin University, formerly known as Curtin University of Technology and Western Australian Institute of Technology (WAIT), is an Australian public research university based in Bentley, Perth, Western Australia. It is named after John Curtin, ...

and has worked in education and training, public administration, the media, community development, interpreting, translating and language teaching and has experience in small business management. With her husband Dave Price, she is a partner with Jajirdi Consultants working in cross cultural awareness training, community liaison and Warlpiri language services. The Northern Territory Labor Government appointed Price as chairperson of its Indigenous Affairs Advisory Council (IAAC). The council was set up to provide advice and make recommendations regarding the implementation and further development of the

Closing the Gap The Closing the Gap framework is an Australian government strategy that aims to reduce disadvantage among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, based on seven targets. From adoption in 2008, after meetings with the Close the Gap social ...

and Working Future agendas and to assist the Northern Territory Government to engage with Indigenous people. In November 2011, Price announced her retirement from the Indigenous Affairs Advisory Council and intention to stand for the

in the Northern Territory election of 25 August 2012 for the Central Australian seat of Stuart against her nephew,

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

Karl Hampton Karl Rio Hampton (born 4 August 1968) is a former Australian politician. He was a Labor Party member of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly from 2006 until 2012, representing the electorate of Stuart. He served as Minister for Enviro ...

. She was elected with a swing of 18%. She was nominated in 2012 for the US

International Women of Courage Award The International Women of Courage Award, also referred to as the U.S. Secretary of State's International Women of Courage Award, is an American award presented annually by the United States Department of State to women around the world who have ...

. On 9 September 2013, she was named Minister for Community Services, Parks and Wildlife, Statehood and Women's Policy in the Northern Territory government. On 12 Dec 2014, she was appointed additionally Minister for Local Government, and on 10 Feb 2015 also Minister for Housing. She lost office at the Northern Territory election of 27 August 2016. Her paintings were exhibited in Sydney in 2017. Price's daughter, former

deputy mayor

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price Jacinta Yangapi Nampijinpa Price (; born 12 May 1981) is an Australian politician from the Northern Territory. She has been a Australian Senate, senator for the Northern Territory since the 2022 Australian federal election, 2022 federal election ...

, became a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for the Northern Territory at the 2022 federal election.

Political advocacy

Price has strongly criticised the high levels of violence in Central Australian Indigenous communities, and supported the Northern Territory Intervention instigated by the Howard Government. In December 2009 she delivered the Bennelong Society's inaugural Peter Howson lecture, also on the topic of Indigenous violence, and received the Bennelong Medal. She spoke at the

Centre for Independent Studies The Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) is an Australian libertarian think tank founded in 1976 which specialises in public policy research. It is based in Sydney and focuses on classical liberal issues such as free markets and limited governme ...

, Sydney, on 23 March 2011 and appeared on ABC television show Q&A on 11 April 2011. On Q&A, Price said that she supported the Intervention.

In 2012, Price told SBS TV's ''Insight'' Program, that mixed heritage Aboriginal Australians should acknowledge their other heritage "And just not go one way... That has to happen here in Australia so we can all be honest and equal with each other and understanding because it creates the division". In May 2012 and again in August 2012 she criticised

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

for its opposition to the Intervention. Price accused the organisation of ignoring the suffering of women in Central Australia:

She spoke in Sydney on 29 January 2013, at the launch of Stephanie Jarrett's book, ''Liberating Aboriginal People from Violence''. She again called for an end to violence after the stabbing death of her sister Rosalie in April 2014. 'Bess Nungarrayi Price has lost 10 siblings and talks about life in an Aboriginal town camp'
''NT News'' 9 May 2014.

References

External links

Jajirdi Cross Cultural Consultants homepageABC Background Briefing MP3 2011-05-01Maiden speech in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
23 October 2012. {{DEFAULTSORT:Price, Bess 1960 births Living people Australian indigenous rights activists Women human rights activists Members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly Country Liberal Party members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly Indigenous Australian politicians Curtin University alumni People from Alice Springs Women members of the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians Warlpiri people