Matters of the Heart

by Jacinta Nampijinpa Price

The moving story of an Indigenous woman who beat disadvantage and violence to become one of Australia's most influential political voices.


Jacinta Nampijinpa Price was nine months pregnant and due to give birth the night she attended her high school formal. With her baby tucked in her arms, she completed year 12 from her hospital bed. Early in their relationship, she took her future husband, Colin, to the Alice Springs morgue to identify the body of a family member who'd been killed.

Nothing about the life of this passionate and steely Warlpiri woman could ever be described as ordinary.

In this remarkable memoir, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price candidly recalls her journey from the remote outback communities of Yuendumu and Alice Springs in the Northern Territory - a young girl with big dreams and the red dust of her ancestors under her fingernails - to the corridors of Canberra and beyond.

Honest, raw and at times heartbreaking, Matters of the Heart is a deeply personal reflection of how a young Indigenous woman, growing up surrounded by violence and tragedy, beat the odds to become one of the most powerful political voices of our time.

'I've been to hell and back, and I've survived.'

Paperback

Reviews

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have to say such a raw and inspiring book. Jacinta in my eyes is a remarkable woman. I can highly recommend this book and actually urge all Australians, regardless of political persuasion or views on our First Nation people. This will open your eyes .

[Shirley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an absolutely interesting and intriguing story about Jacinta’s life. While I’m not overly into politics I really enjoyed this to read about this history of people living in remote communities as well as to read it from her viewpoint and her experiences.

[Shirley Virtue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Well written and draws on one’s emotions.
Extremely inspiring - clearly demonstrates what can be achieved through the tough times and good times with love of family and determination. There is the drive for one Australia, one nation, and the need for action and less bureaucracy.

[Ken Radford · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extraordinary book written by an extraordinary woman. Everyone should read this book in my opinion.

[Mo · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting, inspirational & memorable book. I appreciated Jacinta's descriptions and insight into Indigenous Australian culture and can see parallels and takeaways for my home country, New Zealand.

[Hugh Worrall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got a lot from reading this book. I really appreciated Jacinta telling her story, telling us about the important people in her life and her experiences. She gives us a lot of insight into her growing up in remote Australian towns and into her network of Aboriginal family connections and what that means to her. There's also a nice collection of photos inserted.
It's great to hear how her parents got together, how they got into education, and how that influenced Jacinta's life. Bess Price, Jacinta's mother, has been an important, influential person herself, as a teacher, community leader and politician.
Jacinta uses a lot of the book to talk about her intimate relationships, the good and bad, and creating her family and developing her parenting.
It's not until very late in the book that she gets involved with politics and, for me, that was good that politics didn't dominate the book.
In the last few chapters Jacinta gives us a clear and valuable analysis of what she sees as the big issues which negatively affect Aboriginal people in remote communities (not just Aboriginal people actually, in her view), holding people back from having healthy, meaningful lives. She's particularly strong campaigning against domestic violence and how people use 'traditional law and culture' to avoid accountability. She says that Aboriginal culture hasn't been through a 'feminist movement' and women are very vulnerable to violence and domination by Aboriginal men.
I felt pretty uncomfortable and confused with her rapid alignment with conservative/right wing political positions (unrelated to domestic violence and her campaign to oppose the "Voice"). She does explain this, but it's still hard for me to see how it all fits together, and I don't see a lot of solutions to problems being proposed. Her opposition to "identity politics" in particular is hard to follow given the whole book is about her identity as an Aboriginal, Warlpiri woman. She even refers to herself at one point as a "traditional owner." Jacinta explains well her opposition to 'grievance politics' and how that can limit and further oppress people.
At the time of writing she had only been in parliament for about 3 years, so maybe she'll be able to develop and advocate for some policy positions and we'll get to see if she can actually help improve things for people. Or if she'll just get coopted by partisan politics, take the money and run. Her full Maiden Speech is included to give us some clues as to what she might try to do.

[Benjamin Farr · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up Matters of the Heart because I’d mostly heard negative things about Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and wanted to understand more about her life and background rather than relying on headlines or commentary. I’m really glad I did.

Jacinta Price writes with honesty and conviction about her upbringing, culture, family and experiences as an Indigenous woman navigating complex personal and political spaces. The book provides important context for her views, grounded in lived experience. A compelling and thought-provoking read that reminds us of the value of reading beyond headlines and one sentence quotes.

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book offers an eye opening insight not only into Jacinta’s personal journey, but also into aspects of Aboriginal culture within remote communities. Having visited a remote Indigenous community to assist school aged kids many years ago, I was aware of some of the experiences she describes, yet there was still so much I didn’t know, particularly around cultural expectations between men and women, and the ways families and friends turn a blind eye to domestic violence behaviour that others would normally call out.

Jacinta’s determination to break free from these expectations and advocate against domestic violence, and later speak out on broader political issues, is both powerful and inspiring. There is so much more to her than I and others realise, and reading this has given me so much respect for her strength and courage.

Aboriginal culture has always fascinated me, and it’s clear there are many important lessons that are largely absent from formal education that are illuminated here.

[Niki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to read this book because I knew little about Jacinta and I was curious to know why an Aboriginal woman would campaign against the referendum for the Aboriginal voice to parliament. Now I understand. She has the lived experience to advocate for change, for meaningful change. I admire her strength, tenacity and determination to stand up for what that needs to be. An amazing woman. A very worthwhile read.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting

[Joe Sampson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting. Jacinta has a lot of sensible things to say about aboriginal matters.