Senator Fatima Payman has stated she plans to remain outspoken on various issues affecting the community following her move to the crossbench. Image source: Lucy Segal, via: Wikimedia Commons
Senator Fatima Payman announced on Thursday that she would be defecting to the crossbench, after voting against Labor solidarity regarding Palestinian recognition.
First elected as a Senator in Western Australia in 2022 and is currently the youngest serving Senator. She was seen as representing a “modern face of Australia” as Labor’s first Muslim Senator and the first to wear hijab in parliament.
Payman has been outspoken on the Israel-Hamas war. This led to her crossing the floor to vote against Labor when the Greens’ moved a motion calling for the Senate to recognise Palestinian statehood.
This decision went against traditional Labor policy, with party rules dictating that all members must vote within the position taken by the Labor caucus.
When asked about her vote, Payman explained that her choice was not premeditated, rather than being a calculated plan to defy the Labor caucus.
Payman challenged the traditions of the Labor party, stating “I was not elected as a token representative of diversity”.
Payman since claimed that she felt “pressured and intimidated” within the Labor party to conform with party solidarity, or risk expulsion.
She was later summoned to speak with Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, in a discussion where she believed she was given an ultimatum to toe the party line.
The Labor party has denied that they have intimidated Payman. When Payman announced her decision to quit the party and join the crossbench, several Labor MPs disagreed with her choice to remain a Senator.
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher stated that she felt that Labor was reaching out to Payman “out of genuine care” but believed that “the right thing to do” for Payman would be to quit the Senate.
Gallagher stated, “If it was me, I wouldn’t stay in the parliament. I would feel that as an obligation to the Labor Party”.
Payman has also been subject to speculation on “only caring about Muslim issues”, and “being guided by God” in her decision-making by other Labor MPs.
She rebuked these criticisms, stating “I don’t know how to respond to that question without feeling offended or insulted [at the suggestion] that just because I am a visibly Muslim woman I only care about Muslim issues.”
In her announcement of joining the crossbench, Payman further explained that she planned to pursue further issues such as “incarceration rates of indigenous people… locking up kids as young as 10 years old… the rising cost of living pressures to families living in cars and tents due to the housing crisis”.
Senator Payman intends to continue serving the remaining four years of her Senate term as an independent.
