Fatima Payman has voted against her own party to support the Greens’ motion calling on the government to recognize the state of Palestine, opening it up to expulsion from the ALP.
The extraordinary decision comes after the 28-year-old first-term Labor senator veered from the party line last month by describing the ongoing crisis in Gaza as a “genocide” and demanding more from her colleagues and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Firebrand Senator Lidia Thorpe used the high-stakes moment, which attracted a crowd of journalists, to lash out at politicians from both major parties for voting against the Greens motion.
She said this made them “complicit in genocide.”
Ms Payman opted to abstain from a series of initial votes on Tuesday afternoon, sitting defiantly in the back – behind the action but in full view of journalists – as the debate continued.
But when push came to shove and the final vote on Greens Senator Nick McKim’s motion for ‘the Senate to recognize the State of Palestine’ was tabled, Ms Payman was approached by obstructionist David Pocock.
After a brief discussion, the pair walked together towards the Greens.
There was a brief moment when it was unclear whether Ms Payman had left the room entirely or had decided to vote, but then she took her seat next to Pocock and directly in front of Ms Thorpe.
Ms Payman is being expelled from the party for choosing to cross the floor.
Ms Payman is being expelled from the party for choosing to cross the floor
But when push came to shove and the final vote on Greens Senator Nick McKim’s motion for ‘the Senate to recognize the State of Palestine’ was tabled, Ms Payman was approached by obstructionist David Pocock. After a brief discussion, the pair walked together towards the Greens
Prior to her decision to take the floor, Ms. Payman abstained from several rounds of voting. She did this visibly, watching as Senator Thorpe shouted at Labor for being ‘complicit in genocide’
A few minutes earlier it seemed as if she had come into the room as a silent spectator, sitting behind Mrs. Thorpe, as the outspoken senator shouted, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
“All of you are complicit in genocide,” she shouted, pointing at the assembled Labor and Coalition senators opposing the Greens’ motion.
“Shame on you all. Good night.’
When Senate President Sue Lines tried to intervene to bring order, Ms. Thorpe continued, “You are complicit too, President.”
The leader of the Greens in the Senate, David Shoebridge, also intervened, arguing that the major parties had worked together to ‘silence’ debate on the issue.
“They gagged it,” he said. ‘Disrespect is ignoring a genocide. They have silenced the debate.”
During all the chaos, Ms. Payman barely lifted her head.
She had the option of not coming to the Senate at all during the vote, making her decision to show up and yet visibly abstain all the more striking.
Firebrand Senator Lidia Thorpe used the high-stakes moment, which attracted a crowd of journalists, to lash out at politicians from both major parties for voting against the Greens motion
She said this made them ‘complicit in genocide’
She held a brief media conference about her decision after the opening of voting, telling the gathered crowd that she “still holds the core values of the Labor Party” and hopes to continue serving as a Labor senator.
‘What you have just seen was the first Labor member to cross the floor in almost thirty years. My decision to cross the floor was the hardest decision I have had to make.
“Every step I took across the Senate floor felt like a mile. I know I didn’t walk these steps alone, and I know I didn’t walk them alone.
“I’ve walked with the West Australians who stopped me in the street and told me not to give up. I have walked with rank-and-file members of the Labor Party telling me we need to do more.”
Ms Payman said she was ‘bitterly disappointed’ that more of her colleagues did not join her in supporting the motion, noting that Labour’s official policy platform ‘recognises both Israel and Palestine’.
“We cannot believe in two-state solutions and recognize only one.
“I was not elected as a token representative of diversity, I was elected to serve the people of Western Australia and uphold the values my late father instilled in me. Today I made a decision that he would be proud of and that everyone could be proud to be on the side of humanity.”
Fatima Payman has challenged Anthony Albanese and her party to stand with the Greens in recognizing the state of Palestine
Greens leader Adam Bandt issued a scathing statement after the vote criticizing Labor senators for refusing to speak despite saying they “care about the plight of Palestinians.”
“What Senator Payman’s action shows is that any Labor MP who said he cares about the fate of the Palestinians is completely cowardly and full of empty words,” he said.
“Senator Payman’s courageous actions now expose every Labor MP who has refused to speak up and vote to do the right thing.”
Ms Payman, whose family fled Afghanistan when she was eight, asked the Prime Minister last month what the “magic number… of international rights law is that Israel must break so that we can say enough”.
“They are fooling the world community about the rights of self-defense,” she said, describing the ongoing conflict in Gaza as a “genocide.”
‘From the river to the sea Palestine will be free.’
The Coalition and Labor have joined together to condemn the phrase and have agreed to a motion calling on Senators to refrain from inflammatory and divisive comments at all times, both inside and outside the House.
Ms Payman said she was ‘bitterly disappointed’ that more of her colleagues did not join her in supporting the motion, noting that Labour’s official policy platform ‘recognises both Israel and Palestine’.
Ms Payman joined the Labor Party because she felt connected to traditional working-class values after seeing her parents abused while raising her in Australia.
“I witnessed the struggle my parents had to put food on the table, pay for our education and keep a roof over our heads,” she previously told the Senate.
“From discrimination and abuse to job insecurity and low wages, my father endured those hardships without complaining or seeking compensation.
“Like many hard-working Australians, this was second nature to my parents, who simply wanted the best future for their four children.”
The crisis in the Middle East has exposed the divisions within the Labor Party on this issue.
Israel launched a ground invasion of Gaza after the Palestinian paramilitary group Hamas – designated a terrorist organization by Australia – killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostages on October 7.
Israel’s retaliatory strike in Gaza has killed more than 35,000 people and injured 77,000 others, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Israel has emphatically rejected the use of the term genocide, saying its war was against Hamas militants in Gaza, not civilians, and that precautions were being taken to reduce the number of casualties.
But Ms. Payman bluntly described the conflict as a genocide, saying, “Rather than advocating for justice, I see our leaders performatively making gestures in defense of the oppressor’s right to oppress.”
She said they are “educating the world community on the rights of self-defense.”
“My conscience has been troubled for far too long and I need to put this into words for what it is,” she said. “This is a genocide and we must stop saying otherwise.
“The lack of clarity, the moral confusion and the indecision are eating at the heart of this nation. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”