Trust matters: Jacinta Price fails to declare directorship of family trust

A version of this article appeared in Crikey on 14 March 2025

Coalition Senator and shadow government efficiency minister Jacinta Nampijinpa Price failed to declare her shareholding in the corporate trustee for her family trust to the Senate interests register within the required time and hasn’t disclosed she is a director of the company. 

ASIC records show the trustee Kuja-Purda Jukurra Pty Ltd was registered on August 1, 2024, with Senator Price listed as the sole shareholder, director and secretary. Under the Senate’s resolutions relating to senators’ interests, Price should’ve declared her shareholding and directorship within 35 days, by September 5, but she didn’t declare her holding until October 29, 54 days past the deadline. Price, who has accused others of lacking transparency, still hasn’t declared her directorship of Kuja-Purda Jukurra. 

The two breaches of the resolutions put Price at risk of being found guilty of serious contempt of the Senate if she is found to have knowingly failed to notify the register of a change to her interests. While we don’t know whether she knowingly failed to notify the register, we can say Price has neglected to declare her interests on time before, including free flights and accommodation from conservative lobby group Advance Australia in November 2022, and free accommodation from the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in October the same year. Neither was declared until May 2023. 

Senator Price’s office said the shareholding “was declared on her register of interests prior to it receiving any income”. However, the resolutions don’t exempt the declaration of shareholdings for companies with no income.

Price’s office said her undeclared directorship was due to “an administrative oversight which will be rectified as soon as possible and does not lessen the disclosure she has made with respect to her interest in the trust”. Memo to the senator: not declaring your directorship lessens your disclosure as directorships are an interest that the Senate register requires to be disclosed. 

Questions about trust’s investments

Price, who has no declared real estate, shares (except those in the trustee), or other major assets in her name apart from her super, says in her interests statement that Kuja-Purda Jukurra is a “discretionary trust holding investments for family beneficiaries”, namely her spouse Colin Lillie and children. But she declined to say what those investments are, with her office stating, “We are presently of the understanding there are no other disclosures required to be made.”

That depends. The Senate handbook on senators’ interests says that shares held in a trust or nominee company need to be declared if a senator exercises control over the trust and any shares it might hold, as Price would do as the sole shareholder and director of Kuja-Purda Jukurra. We mentioned this to Price’s office, which responded, “Neither Kuja-Purda Jukurra Pty Ltd nor the trust that owns it, hold trading shares.”

So what assets does the trust own, we asked. Unlisted shares in private companies? Real estate? Bonds or debentures? Cash deposits? Investments in managed funds or unit trusts? Intellectual property? The trust must have something of value in it as Price’s office says it produces income. We haven’t had a response yet. 

Given the trust appears to hold her key assets and she controls the trustee, there is a legitimate question about whether her interest statement fully captures her financial position.

What’s the big deal? Well, the current shadow minister for Indigenous Australians has recently been tasked with heading up a new “government efficiency” platform, ostensibly to crack down on “wasteful spending” including the “divisive Voice referendum” — echoing the new US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk.

“With Australians sick of the wasteful spending that is out of control under the Albanese government … Jacinta will be looking closely at how we can achieve a more efficient use of taxpayers’ money,” Dutton said in a statement on Saturday.

The head of DOGE-lite could be a cabinet minister in the next couple of months, so the public needs to know whether the trust’s investments could create a conflict of interest with her ministerial duties. 

Open Politics-Crikey sought comment from Peter Dutton’s office but didn’t hear back before deadline.