Liberal senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price “trampled” on the reputation of a prominent Indigenous leader without caring whether her claims were true or false, the Federal Court has heard in a high-stakes defamation battle.

Price fronted the Federal Court in Darwin on Monday for the first day of the defamation case, which was filed against her by Central Land Council chief executive Les Turner. She is expected to give evidence during the seven-day trial.

Turner, who launched the proceedings against Price in September last year, alleges Price defamed him in a media release published on her website and emailed to almost 2000 journalists in July that year.

He was not named, but Price said in the document that an unsuccessful motion of no confidence had been moved against “the CEO of the Centr

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