HarperCollins Publishers Australia are thrilled to announce they have acquired World rights to publish the moving, inspirational memoir, Matters of the Heart, by Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price. Since she entered the Australian Senate in May 2022, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has rocked boats! Quickly elevated to Shadow Indigenous Minister by LNP leader Peter Dutton, Jacinta took a controversial position by becoming the face of the No campaign to the proposed Voice to parliament. In doing so, she established her own voice to the nation as a spokesperson for a hands-on practical approach to Indigenous issues and a desire to draw Indigenous and non-Indigenous people together rather than separate them by race. She spoke to packed meetings, faced the media and toured the country, in the process raising her profile and garnering huge support among conservative and centrist voters.
A proud Warlpiri-Celtic woman from the Northern Territory, Jacinta has been an advocate for her community and other Indigenous people – especially women and children. She has seen firsthand the disadvantage in Indigenous communities, and her memoir tells the story of her family’s first contact with Europeans, the clash of cultures they experienced, and the domestic violence and other tragedies they endured, as well as her incredible rise from disadvantage to become one of Australia’s most significant politicians. Written in collaboration with award-winning author Sue Smethurst this will be a truly unique Australian story.
Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price said: ‘Many people were introduced to me through my role in the No campaign during the Voice referendum. But media appearances and click-bait headlines are never the best way to get to know a person. By telling my history and the stories of those who came before me, my hope is that people will gain a fuller understanding of who I truly am, why I fight for what I fight for, and what really matters to my heart.’
Sue Smethurst, co-author said: ‘I’m so thrilled to be working with Jacinta on this remarkable story. Jacinta’s life has been shaped by hardship, tragedy and challenges that are beyond what most of us could imagine. She is a woman of great resolve and courage, with a love of Australia that is deeply embedded in everything she does, qualities recognised well beyond Canberra. Jacinta is, and will be, one of the most influential political figures of our time, a woman who is already making her mark, and it is a joy to discover the road that led her there.’
Mary Rennie, publisher at HarperCollins Australia, said: ‘It’s a privilege to be publishing the memoir of such an important public figure as Jacinta Nampijinpa Price. I know that I am not alone in wondering what influences have shaped her resolve and resilience; how she straddles two apparently different worlds; where she draws her strength from; and what her vision for the future is. Her many political admirers will rush out to get this book, but Jacinta’s story is so moving and momentous, it will appeal to thousands of people who love an emotional story of overcoming adversity and rising to be one of the most important voices in the nation.’
ABOUT JACINTA PRICE
Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price is a political phenomenon. She is CLP senator for the Northern Territory and the former deputy mayor of Alice Springs, recently most notable for her campaigning for the No vote at the Voice referendum. She has been working in the Northern Territory for almost two decades to improve the lives of Indigenous Australians, especially in relation to domestic violence, and has been unafraid to take controversial stances that she believes in. She has worked as the Indigenous program director at the Centre for Independent Studies, and in 2015, was elected to the Alice Springs Town Council. In 2022, she was elected as Senator for the Northern Territory, and since April 2023 has served as the Coalition’s Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians.
ABOUT SUE SMETHURST
Sue Smethurst is an award-winning author and journalist who has spent more than 20 years working in the media across television, radio and magazines. She was a senior writer with the Australian Women’s Weekly, and has written eight books, including Behind Closed Doors, Spartacus and Me, Blood on the Rosary, A Diamond in the Dust, and The Freedom Circus, which tells the story of how her husband’s grandparents used the cover of a Polish circus to escape the Nazis. She has also recently worked with Rosie Batty on Rosie’s latest book, Hope.
ABOUT HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS
HarperCollins Publishers is the second-largest consumer book publisher in the world, with operations in 17 countries. With over 200 hundred years of history and more than 120 branded imprints around the world, HarperCollins publishes approximately 10,000 new books every year, in over 30 languages, and has a print and digital catalogue of more than 200,000 titles. Writing across dozens of genres, HarperCollins authors include winners of the Miles Franklin Award, the Nobel Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award and the Booker Prize. Publishing Australian stories since 1888, HarperCollins Publishers Australia, incorporating the Angus & Robertson imprint, is Australia’s foundation publisher. For further information see www.harpercollins.com.au.
CONTACT
Hannah Lynch
0466 834 495