The punishment given to Fatima Payman for voting against her Labour Party colleagues has caused problems for the government, who had hoped the day would be a day of celebrating measures to reduce the cost of living.
The 29-year-old senator, who is completing her first term, announced Monday afternoon that she will abstain from voting on all issues except “matters of conscience.”
This puts Labour’s sheep export law at risk, raising questions about whether Ms Payman’s decision is an act of revenge against her party for mistreating her.
“I have been banished,” she claimed.
‘I have lost all contact with my caucus colleagues. I have been removed from caucus meetings, committees, internal group chats and whip bulletins.
“These actions lead me to believe that some members are trying to intimidate me into resigning from the Senate.”
Ms Payman was suspended indefinitely from her party’s caucus meetings on Sunday after revealing she would have no qualms about taking the floor again on motions involving Palestine.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has taken tougher measures against Ms Payman in an attempt to shift attention to his tax cuts, which take effect today.
The 29-year-old first-term senator announced Monday afternoon that she will abstain from voting on all issues except a potential “question of conscience.”
Despite his best efforts, Ms Payman’s future was the focus on the first day of the last week of the legislature before the winter holidays.
Question Time in both the House of Representatives and the Senate was accompanied by jeering, whining and statements about Labour’s response to Ms Payman’s decision to side with the Greens last week when she tabled a motion in favor of a Palestinian state submitted.
In addition, ministers who attended the media on Monday morning to promote the Stage 3 tax cuts and the $300 refund on energy bills were inundated with questions about Ms Payman’s future.
Ms Payman gave the strongest signal yet that she is considering leaving the Labour Party, despite insisting over the past week that she upholds the party’s values and wants to stay in it.
“I will use this time to reflect on my future and how best to represent the people of Western Australia,” she said.
“I will abstain from voting on Senate business for the remainder of the week unless a matter of conscience arises where I wish to uphold the true values and principles of the Labor Party.”
The decision, especially if it affects Labor’s sheep export bill, will draw criticism of Payman within the party and prompt calls for her expulsion.
Nationals leader David Littleproud has called on both Ms Payman and independent Senator Lidia Thorpe to vote on the issue later on Monday.
Senator Payman voted last week with the Greens, David Pocock and Lidia Thorpe to recognise the state of P
The Prime Minister had already come under internal pressure from some Labour figures to take stronger action against Ms Payman for crossing the floor.
Mr Albanese made clear on Monday morning that she will face further punishment for diverting attention from the tax cuts and cost-of-living measures the government has introduced, rather than from her position on Israel.
“It’s not because of her support for a policy position she has advocated, it’s because of the question you just asked me. Today is July 1. It’s a day when we want to talk about tax cuts. We want to talk about our economic support to alleviate that cost of living without putting pressure on inflation,” Mr Albanese told ABC RN.
‘And instead you have seamlessly moved on to the actions of an individual, aimed at undermining the collective position that the Labour Party has determined.
‘No individual is bigger than the team. And Fatima Payman is welcome to join the team again if she accepts her membership.”
In the Senate, Ms Payman spent much of Question Time with her head behind her laptop, while GreenLeft representative Mehreen Faruqi defended her, calling the Labour Party’s sanctions “disgraceful”.
Ms Faruqi asked whether Labour would sanction Israel and the Netanyahu government, given that it had imposed sanctions on Ms Payman.
“I understand why you want to take a political line here in this room,” said Senator Penny Wong.
From across the room, coalition senators heckled the Labor party over divisions within the party. They shouted that they wanted to “hear Senator Payman.”
