Fatima Payman has sensationally quit the Labour Party in tears after two weeks of escalating tensions over her stance on the Gaza war.
The 29-year-old first-term West Australian senator had complained she had been “exiled” by her Labor colleagues after she crossed parliament and sided with the Greens on a motion on recognising the state of Palestine.
On Thursday, the last day of sitting before the winter recess, the renegade senator finally confirmed she will join the independent bench alongside her friend David Pocock and Lidia Thorpe.
‘With a heavy heart but a clear conscience, I have announced my resignation from the Australian Labor Party.
“I will now sit as an independent to represent the people of Western Australia.”
Ms Payman took aim at Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, saying his claims yesterday that she had been planning to become independent for a month were false.
He also insisted he would not take the helm of a new “Teal Muslim” movement, as has been widely rumoured.
Labor will now have to negotiate with Ms Payman as part of the independent group when it wants to pass legislation in the Senate, if it does not have the support of the Coalition.
To achieve a Senate majority without the Coalition, Labor will need the support of all 11 Greens, plus three members of the eight-member independent group.
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.
The hostility between Ms Payman and many of her Labour parliamentary group members has been palpable – and growing – since she first decided to cross the party.
Senator Fatima Payman has been emotional about quitting the Labour Party over its stance on Palestine and the treatment she has received since voting in favour of a Greens motion.
Enough of this: Fatima Payman has sensationally quit the ALP after two weeks of hostility over her stance on the war in Gaza.
At first he received nothing more than a slap on the wrist, but his decision to appear in an unauthorised ABC interview, where he proudly said he would walk across the room again if he had free time, prompted the Prime Minister to intervene again.
She has been suspended indefinitely from the party, and senior Labour ministers have been making the rounds in the media all week repeating the same party line: that Payman will be welcomed back into the fold when she starts acting like a team player.
They all say they are not harassing her and would be willing to forgive her and forget about her. Some have said they know that “everyone makes mistakes.”
But Payman does not accept that what he did was a mistake. He voted with his conscience, he says, and on behalf of the rank-and-file members of the Labour Party he has spoken to.
She says her actions reflect the sentiment of her community and that her constituents have supported her decision to risk her career to support her own conviction.
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.”
Fatima Payman (right) clashes with independent MP David Pocock (left) during a Greens motion on Palestine
‘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.
There has been concern within the Labour Party of late that Ms Payman was undermining more senior members of the government who have been elected in areas with high Muslim populations.
The Greens have promised to campaign on the ground in some of these constituencies, telling voters that “if Senator Payman can do it as a 29-year-old woman and a first-term senator, then so can your elected member.”
Premier Anthony Albanese indicated on Question Time this week that he believes Payman had been planning his 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.
Ms Payman has 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.”