A “security concern” that called police to a court house has also prevented Liberal Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price sitting in on part of her trial for allegedly defaming the head of an Aboriginal land council.

Price’s barrister Peter Gray SC raised the concern shortly before the Federal Court broke for lunch in Darwin on Tuesday afternoon.

“My client is not in the court at the moment because of the concern that I refer to,” he said when the hearing resumed.

“The concern, as I say, is a security concern,” he said.

A Northern Territory Police spokesperson said police were called about “an individual within the Darwin court house”.

“The incident was handled by court staff prior to police arrival and officers were subsequently not required,” they said.

Price is being sued over a July 2024 media release that allegedly defamed Central Land Council chief executive Lesley Turner. The release falsely said there had been a no-confidence motion against Turner by council delegates, he said.

The trial previously heard that Price should have verified claims about the Aboriginal land council head before publicly harming his reputation.

She gave weight to the claim by repeating it publicly, Alice Springs health official John Boffa told the court on Tuesday after being called as a witness by Turner’s legal team.

“A senator of the Crown can’t just parrot what someone else has said without thinking about it and trying to verify it independently,” he said under cross-examination from Gray.

The land council’s chair, Matthew Palmer, had spoken with the NT News and the ABC before Price issued her media release, telling the outlets there had been a vote and the majority wanted Turner gone.

Gray’s suggestions Price simply assumed Palmer’s statements were correct were rejected in court.

Boffa instead argued Price had added a “new twist” to the claims, accusing Turner of unprofessional conduct as well.

Reports on the internal spat had caused reputational damage because the “bush telegraph” was so good at spreading negative stories, he said.

“I think that his reputation took a hit from this and mud sticks,” Boffa said.

The damage was done through a perception that Turner had gone rogue and remained on despite the vote against him.

Any view that he had lost the community’s support was very serious for the head of an Aboriginal organisation, Boffa said.

The NT News published Palmer’s allegations but later pulled the article and issued an apology.

Turner’s barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC earlier told the court that Price and her staff failed to question inconsistencies in the Palmer press release or confirm matters with sources before going ahead with their defamatory release.

Price has dropped a truth defence and is relying on a defence of qualified privilege to avoid court-ordered damages. She has also denied Turner suffered any hurt due to her conduct.

The hearing continues on Wednesday.

-AAP