The rules of political gravity have set in for Jacinta Nampijinpa Price – but the Coalition is still in a dangerous limbo

Price’s refusal to endorse Sussan Ley’s leadership on Wednesday was a deliberate provocation that left the opposition leader no choice

• Report: Ley dumps Nampijinpa Price from shadow ministry over refusal to back leadership or apologise over migrants comments

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For much of her short career in Canberra, the usual rules of political gravity have appeared not to apply to Jacinta Nampijinpa Price.

A firebrand, outspoken and unapologetic about almost everything, she went from a first-term backbencher from the Northern Territory to a member of the shadow cabinet in less than a term. Easily the most prominent opponent of the Indigenous voice to parliament, Price used the referendum campaign to build her political brand exponentially.

Tom McIlroy is Guardian Australia’s chief political correspondent