Senator Fatima Payman has quit the Labor Party over her conscience vote. Photo: Region.
First-term senator Fatima Payman has quit the Labor Party and moved to the crossbench following a week of power shifts and speculation about her future.
The West Australian senator said she had felt exiled by her ALP colleagues after she crossed the floor on 25 June to vote in favour of a Greens motion calling for Australia to recognise Palestinian statehood.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese initially suspended her from caucus for one meeting, but outraged factional leaders insisted he take tougher action and so he made the suspension indefinite.
On Thursday (4 July), Senator Payman walked out of the Senate just as the Prime Minister was being asked about her in the House of Representatives Question Time.
After a conference outside the chamber, she walked back in and sat on the crossbench as an independent.
At her media conference, Senator Payman said Mr Albanese had given her an ultimatum when he summoned her to the Lodge – vote with the party or leave the party.
She said although she still believed in Labor’s principles, there was no middle ground between the party’s rules and her conscience.
Senator Payman said she had been deeply torn while deciding what to do.
“On one hand, I have the immense support of the rank and file members, the unionists, the lifelong members, the party volunteers who are calling on me to hang in there and to make change happen internally,” she said.
“On the other hand, I am pressured to conform to caucus solidarity and toe the party line.
“My conscience leaves me no choice.”
The now independent senator said the PM had also told her she should give her Senate seat back to the party if she left the ALP.
The Prime Minister has denied saying that.
But the party definitely wants to keep the seat Labor and pressure is on for Senator Payman to quit parliament altogether – which she says she definitely won’t be doing.
It now means the government needs to negotiate an extra Senate vote from the crossbench on legislation the Coalition opposes.
On Wednesday, Mr Albanese suggested – in response to a question in parliament – that Senator Payman had been planning a move for about a month.
Those remarks from the PM, Senator Payman said, sealed her resolve to leave the party.
“I did not expect the Prime Minister during QT [Question Time] yesterday to make an assumption – or I wouldn’t want to say accusation, but it felt like an accusation – where I have been planning this for a month,” she said.
“Because it is not true. I have not. The vote was purely based on my conscience.”
She later insisted she only made up her mind to quit the party on Thursday morning, but was spurred on by the PM’s conversation with her at the Lodge.
“That made me realise maybe there’s an expectation that I must make this decision asap,” she said.
Senator Payman also quashed suggestions she would join a party with grassroot campaigners Muslim Vote.
The group issued a statement to the same effect, stressing that it was not even a party.
“The Muslim Vote is not a political party. We are a united collective dedicated to empowering Australian Muslims in the electoral process,” the statement said.
“The sentiment for genuine representation is stronger than ever, and amplifying these voices is crucial.
“The Muslim Vote is not a religious campaign but a political one. Negatively framed media stories and political discourse are dishonest attempts to incite fear and confusion.
“Uplifting community political literacy and participating in political advocacy should be embraced and celebrated.”
ALP national president Wayne Swan outlined his party’s thinking in a statement.
“Our past achievements tell us there is simply no substitute for the power of collective action to deliver social progress domestically and internationally,” he said.
“Senator Payman’s decision to place herself outside the party can only empower Labor’s opponents on the far right and on the left who have always opposed progressive foreign, economic and environmental policy.”
Asked in Question Time on Thursday about his conversations with Senator Payman, the Prime Minister denied being in any way aggressive.
“A short while ago I received a message from Senator Payman, addressed to me… ‘Dear Prime Minister, thank you for your leadership. It has been an honour and privilege to serve in the Australian Labor Party’,” he said.
“And it went on to indicate her resignation as a member of the ALP.”
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