Liberal senator Jane Hume dragged into Alex Hawke and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price conflict

Liberal senator Jane Hume is “reeling” from having been caught up in a dispute between colleagues Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Alex Hawke over comments linking Indian Australians and high levels of migration.

The spat between the two frontbenchers escalated over the weekend after Senator Price accused Mr Hawke of berating one of her staff members and threatening that “if I did not comply with his requests, I may end up like another female member of the Coalition”.

The reference was believed to be to Senator Hume, who was sidelined from Sussan Ley’s frontbench after a comment she made about “Chinese spies” in the final days of the election turned off diaspora voters.

Senator Hume said she didn’t know anything about the conversations between her two colleagues.

“I’m still reeling a little bit … I’m not entirely sure what this is all about and why my name needs to be included,” she said on Monday morning.

Mr Hawke subsequently denied dragging Senator Hume into the conflict.

Senator Price sparked outrage on Thursday afternoon when she claimed in an interview on ABC TV that the Government had allowed in large numbers of Indian migrants because they were more likely to vote for Labor.

The shadow minister for Defence industry later said she’d made a mistake with the comments and had not meant to disparage anyone, but stopped short of apologising.

Ms Ley and frontbenchers visited Indian-Australian businesses in western Sydney on Sunday afternoon in a bid to calm community anxieties.

Maria Kovacic acknowledged there had been damage done to the ties between the Liberal Party and the community that needed repair.

“I think the most important thing is to be honest in your interactions and tell people that you acknowledge that the commentary was hurtful, but also acknowledge that it was untrue,” Senator Kovacic said.

Mr Hawke, who was the minister for immigration and multicultural affairs under Scott Morrison and whose seat of Mitchell is among the nation’s most diverse, said his colleagues understood that they could have a debate about migration numbers without singling out particular communities.

He said he feared shortly after Senator Price made the comments on Thursday afternoon that Labor would “weaponise” them for political ends.

“There is real damage now on both sides,” he said on Monday.

“I think if an apology was offered early on and just a quick walk back, that would have helped, but there’s still time.

“I think the community should hear from her, because I’ve heard from her, and I believe her. She didn’t mean these comments. She wasn’t being racist, but it came out that way.”

Senator Hume said she thought Senator Price had “walked back the comments as far as she’s ready to” but if Ms Ley thought more was needed, the leader should tell her colleague directly.

The dispute over the comments and subsequent response has laid bare frictions within the Liberal Party as it grapples with its devastating election loss in May and how to win back voters in suburban and metropolitan areas.