A series of social media posts from Fatima Payman’s secret accounts – and those of her family – have shed light on the controversial senator’s views, as Anthony Albanese launches his most bitter attack yet on the Labour defector.
Private posts provided to the Daily Mail Australia show how Ms Payman went from a serious university student who ran the Muslim Students Association at the University of Western Australia to a senator in just four years.
Posts uploaded to the 29-year-old politician’s non-public social media pages are littered with inspirational quotes about leadership, being yourself and carpe diem — seize the day.
But another controversial post – in which a family member calls Israel a terrorist organisation – also shows the pressure he may have been under to push for action in the Gaza war.
The newly independent senator from Western Australia announced her resignation during a press conference in Parliament on Thursday, citing unresolvable tensions within the Labor Party.
He accused the Labour Party of failing to take a position on the situation between Israel and Palestine and the 38,000 people who have died in Gaza since the situation escalated following a surprise attack by the extremist group Hamas last year.
“It is with a heavy heart but a clear conscience that I have announced my resignation from the Australian Labor Party,” he said.
‘My family did not flee a war-torn country to come here as refugees so that I would remain silent when I see atrocities inflicted on innocent people.’
Fatima Payman (pictured) resigned from the Labour Party on Thursday citing unresolvable tensions
Fatima Payman is pictured on her wedding day. She married Washington state policy advisor Jacob Stokes.
Three of the private posts seen by Daily Mail Australia were inspirational quotes.
One of the quotes was from Poor Things actress Emma Stone, who said, “I can’t think of a better representation of beauty than someone who isn’t afraid to be herself.”
Another account featured the popular Latin phrase carpe diem, which roughly translates to ‘seize the day.’
Another was a quote from author Tom Peters, who said, “Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders.”
However, another post uploaded to her cousin’s Facebook pageIt was engraved with the Star of David crossed by a large black cross. It said: “Israel is not a nation but a criminal terrorist organization.”
There is no suggestion that Payman shares that view. Daily Mail Australia has contacted her for comment.
Ms Payman’s family were refugees who fled to Pakistan from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, before joining other family members in Perth when she was about eight years old in 2003.
Senator Payman is photographed walking to her press conference on Thursday afternoon.
Pictured: An extremist anti-Israel post by Senator Payman’s cousin on the Facebook page
Premier Anthony Albanese on Friday criticised Senator Payman’s decision to leave the Labor Party and warned parties against “going down the path of faith-based political parties” because it undermines social cohesion.
On Thursday, the senator was forced to deny suggestions that she would join a grassroots Muslim group, telling reporters that she had also met with the Jewish Council of Australia and Christian groups.
Mr Albanese said: “My party has in Cabinet and on ministerial tables people who are Catholic, people who are members of the Uniting Church, people who are Muslim, people who are Jewish.”
‘This is how we have conducted politics in Australia, this is how you achieve cohesion.
“And it seems to me also more than obvious that it is not in the interest of smaller minority groups to isolate themselves, which is what a faith-based party system would do.”
He then pointed to his 1,600 votes in the WA election, while the ALP received 511,000 votes above the line, meaning the state voted for the party rather than Senator Payman.
“It’s very clear that Fatima Payman is in the Senate because the people of WA wanted to elect a Labor government,” he said.
Fatima Payman’s immediate family (pictured) fled Afghanistan for Pakistan in the 1990s, before arriving in Perth as refugees in 2003.
‘That’s why they put a number one in the box above the line next to the Australian Labor Party rather than voting below the line for any individual.’
Mr Albanese added that he was disappointed with her decision to leave and maintained that she did not raise issues about the Middle East or “anything else about Western Australia” in the caucus before defecting.
Ms Payman was elected to a six-year term in 2022 during Labor’s resounding victories in Western Australia. She will serve the remaining four years as an independent.
Albanese had reportedly privately told Payman that she had been elected on the Labor Party platform and that she should leave the Senate altogether so the government could reappoint an insider to the Senate seat.
This comes after tweets from her husband, Jacob Stokes, emerged earlier this year in which he said: “I think the worst thing that could happen would be for her to resign.”
‘A government cannot change its foreign policy stance overnight.
‘She needs to work hard to rise and be there to recruit more Muslims to the party and the government.
“This is how we get representation.” Stokes’ profile has now been made private after his tweets were published. He is reportedly associated with the Washington State Labor Party.
Premier Anthony Albanese is pictured during a press conference in Queanbeyan on Friday
It later emerged that her husband works for the Washington state Labor government and managed its 2022 election campaign. It is unclear whether he will maintain his role in state politics.
Mr Albanese indicated on Question Time this week that he believes Ms Payman had been planning her exit from the party for a month.
She told ABC that is not the case and reportedly said she believes the party said that because it is upset with her.
Before her resignation, Ms Payman had not been seen in the Senate since Monday, after announcing she would abstain from voting on any matters except “matters of conscience”.
“I have been exiled,” he said then.
‘I have lost all contact with my colleagues in the parliamentary group. I have been removed from parliamentary group meetings, committees, internal chats and parliamentary group newsletters.
“These actions lead me to believe that some members are attempting to intimidate me into resigning from the Senate.”