Senator Jacinta Price has defected from the Nationals to sit with the Liberals as the party gets ready to vote on its new leader.

Price is a senator for the Liberal Party’s Northern Territory branch and the Coalition’s shadow Indigenous Australians minister.

She has previously sat with the Nationals but has announced she will move to sit with the Liberals in Canberra ahead of when the party meets on Tuesday.

“I am eager to fight for the best interests of all Australians as part of the Coalition,” she said in a statement to Nine newspapers.

“I believe I will be more effective in this regard if I am a member of the Liberal Party, especially as the party faces a significant rebuild after Saturday. A rebuild I feel obliged to play a robust part in.

“I want to bring back our core values of liberty, individual freedom and responsibility, the rule of law, free market and economic prosperity, minimal government intervention, a fair go and most of all, love for our nation, Australia.”

The Coalition, comprised of Liberal and Nationals members, sit next to each other in parliament and typically vote along the same lines.

However, they each have their own party leaders and party room meetings. 

The top contenders for the role of opposition leader are deputy leader Sussan Ley, shadow treasurer Angus Taylor and shadow immigration minister Dan Tehan.