Rogue Labor senator Fatima Payman says she has been ‘exiled’ by the party after the Prime Minister suspended her indefinitely on Sunday and is considering her future.
She said she had “lost all contact with my caucus colleagues as a result”.
“Yesterday, the Prime Minister suspended me indefinitely from the Australian Labor Party caucus,” she said in a statement.
“Since then 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,” she said on Facebook.
“As a result I will abstain from voting on Senate matters for the remainder of the week, unless a matter of conscience arises where I’ll uphold the true value and principles of the Labor Party,
“I will use this time to reflect on my future an the best way to represent the people of Western Australia.”
Senator Payman was suspended from caucus indefinitely on Sunday after she said she would cross the floor again to support Palestine, defying warnings from the Prime Minister and other senior government leaders.
The Albanese government supports the recognition of a Palestinian state as part of a peace process towards a two-state solution.
It had tried to amend the Greens’ motion to include that recognition should happen “as a part of a peace process in support of a two-state solution and a just and enduring peace”.
Senator Payman told reporters after she crossed the floor that she voted for the Greens’ motion because “we cannot believe in two-state solutions and only recognise one.”
“It was the most difficult decision I have had to make, and although each step I took across the Senate floor felt like a mile, I know I did not walk alone,” she said.
Mr Albanese on Monday morning said Senator Payman was welcome to return to caucus “if she followed the rules.
He said her decision to appear on ABC’s Insiders and vow to go against Labor’s position on Palestinian statehood was deliberately disruptive.
Mr Albanese said Senator Payman’s comments and the timing of them made her continued participation in Labor caucus meetings untenable. However was careful to add she was not suspended due to her “support for a policy position that she’s advocated”.
He said her actions were designed to “undermine what is the collective position that the Labor Party has determined” and “disrupted” the launch of Labor’s cost-of-living policies.
“Today is July 1. It’s a day where we want to talk about tax cuts. We want to talk about our economic support for providing that cost of living relief without putting pressure on inflation,” he told ABC Radio.
And instead, you have seamlessly segued into the actions of an individual which is designed to undermine what is the collective position that the Labor Party has determined.
“No individual is bigger than the team and Fatima Payman is welcome to return to participating in the team if she accepts she’s a member of it.”
While Coalition members are able to cross the floor and vote in opposition to the party line, Mr Albanese said ALP rules would not change.
“What we have is a process where people participate, people respect each other and people don’t engage in indulgence, such as the decision last week,” he said.
“Pretending the Senate recognises states is quite frankly untenable.”
More to come
