The punishment of Fatima Payman for voting against her Labor colleagues is causing problems for the government on a day they were waiting outside to celebrate their cost of living measures.
The 29-year-old senator, who is starting her first term, announced Monday afternoon that she will abstain from voting on any matter except “matters of conscience.”
Doing so puts Labour’s sheep export bill at risk, raising questions about whether Payman’s decision is an act of revenge against her party for treating her poorly.
“They have exiled me,” he said.
‘I have lost all contact with my caucus colleagues. I have been removed from caucus meetings, committees, internal group chats and whips’ bulletins.
“These actions lead me to believe that some members are attempting to intimidate me into resigning from the Senate.”
On Sunday, Ms Payman was suspended indefinitely from her party’s parliamentary group meetings after revealing she would have no qualms about intervening again on motions involving Palestine.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has taken stronger action against Payman in an effort to refocus on his tax cuts, which come into effect from today.
The 29-year-old first-term senator announced Monday afternoon that she would abstain from voting on any issue except if it involved a potential “matter of conscience.”
Despite her best efforts, Ms. Payman’s future has dominated the first day of the last week of sessions before the winter break.
Question time in both the House and Senate included jeers, boos and statements about Labour’s response to Payman’s decision to align with the Greens last week, when they tabled a motion for a Palestinian state.
Additionally, ministers doing the press rounds on Monday morning to promote the Stage 3 tax cuts and $300 energy bill rebate were inundated with questions about Ms Payman’s future.
Payman gave the clearest indication yet that he is considering defecting from the Labor Party, despite maintaining over the past week that he defends Labor values and wants to remain in the party.
“I will use this time to reflect on my future and how best to represent the people of Western Australia,” he said.
‘I will abstain from voting on Senate business for the rest of the week unless a question of conscience arises where I stand up for the true values and principles of the Labour Party.’
The move, particularly if it affects Labour’s sheep export bill, will fuel Payman’s critics within the party who have been calling for his ouster.
The Prime Minister had already been under internal pressure from some Labour figures to take stronger action against Ms Payman for speaking out.
Mr Albanese made it clear on Monday morning that he was receiving additional punishment because he was diverting attention from the tax cuts and cost-of-living measures the government has introduced, rather than its stance on Israel.
‘It is not because of her support for a political position that she defends, but because of the question you just asked me. Today is July 1st. It’s a day when we want to talk about tax cuts. “We want to talk about our economic support to provide that cost of living relief without putting pressure on inflation,” Albanese told ABC RN.
‘And instead they have moved seamlessly to the actions of an individual that are designed to undermine the collective position that the Labour Party has determined.
‘No individual is bigger than the team. And Fatima Payman can participate in the team again if she agrees to be a member of it.
In the Senate, Ms Payman spent much of question time with her head buried in her laptop, even as Green Party representative Mehreen Faruqi came to her defence, describing Labour’s sanctions as “shameful”.
Faruqi asked whether the Labor Party would sanction Israel and the Netanyahu government, given that it had imposed sanctions on Payman.
“I understand why they want to pursue a political line here in this chamber,” said Senator Penny Wong.
From across the room, Coalition senators booed Labor about the division within the party, shouting that they “want to hear from Senator Payman”.
