Fatima Payman voted against her own party to support the Greens’ motion calling on the government to recognize the state of Palestine, exposing her to possible expulsion from the ALP.
The extraordinary move comes after the 28-year-old first-term Labor senator broke the party line last month to call the current crisis in Gaza a “genocide” and demand more from her colleagues and the Prime Minister. Minister Anthony Albanese.
Firebrand Senator Lidia Thorpe used the high-stakes moment, which attracted a crowd of journalists, to attack politicians from both major parties who voted against the Green motion.
She said this made them “complicit in the genocide”.
Ms Payman chose to abstain in a series of initial votes on Tuesday afternoon, sitting defiantly in the back row – behind the action but in full view of reporters – as the debate raged.
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” took place, Ms Payman was approached by MP David Pocock.
After a short discussion, the two men headed together towards the Greens.
There was a brief moment when it was unclear whether Ms Payman was leaving the room entirely or had decided to vote, but she then took her seat next to Pocock and directly in front of Ms Thorpe.
Ms Payman faces expulsion from the party for choosing to switch parties. The last time a Labor politician chose to do this from government was in 1986 – before Ms Payman was even born.
Ms Payman faces expulsion from party for choosing to switch parties
But when push came to shove and the final vote on the motion put forward by Greens senator Nick McKim for “the Senate to recognize the State of Palestine”, Ms Payman was approached by MP David Pocock. After a brief discussion, the two men headed together towards the Greens.
Before her decision to switch parties, Ms. Payman abstained in several rounds of voting. She visibly did so and watched as Senator Thorpe called out the Labor Party for being “complicit in genocide”.
Minutes earlier, it looked like she had come into the room to be a silent spectator, sitting at the back behind Ms. Thorpe as the outspoken senator shouted “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
“All of you, complicit in genocide,” she shouted, pointing to the assembled Labor and Coalition senators opposing the Greens’ motion.
“Shame on you all. Sleep well.’
When Senate President Sue Lines tried to intervene to call things to order, Ms. Thorpe continued: “You are complicit too, President.”
Green Senate leader David Shoebridge also weighed in, arguing that the major parties had joined forces to “gag” debate on the issue.
“They gagged him,” he said. “Lack of respect means ignoring a genocide. They silenced the debate.
Despite all the chaos, Ms. Payman barely raised her head.
She had the option of not showing up to the Senate floor at all during the vote, making her decision to appear while visibly abstaining all the more visible.
Firebrand Senator Lidia Thorpe used the high-stakes moment, which attracted a crowd of journalists, to attack politicians from both major parties who voted against the Green motion.
She said this made them “complicit in the genocide”
She held a brief press conference after voting on her decision opened, telling the assembled crowd that she “still kept the core values of the Labor Party” and hoped to continue in her role as a Labor senator.
“What you have just witnessed is the first Labor member to change parties in almost 30 years. My decision to walk across the floor was the hardest decision I have ever 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 walked with West Australians who stopped me in the streets and told me not to give up. I marched with rank and file members of the Labor Party who told me we needed to do more.
Ms Payman said she was “bitterly disappointed” that more of her colleagues had not joined her in supporting the motion, noting that Labor’s official policy platform “recognizes both Israel and Palestine.
“We cannot believe in two state solutions and only recognize 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 instilled in me by my late father. Today I made a decision that would make him proud and that would make everyone proud to sin on the side of humanity.
Fatima Payman challenged Anthony Albanese and his party to join the Greens in recognizing the State of Palestine.
Greens leader Adam Bandt issued a damning statement after the vote, lambasting Labor senators who refused to switch parties while saying they “care about the plight of the Palestinians.”
“What Senator Payman’s action shows is that all Labor MPs who say they care about the plight of the Palestinians are total cowards and only utter empty words,” he said.
“Senator Payman’s courageous actions now highlight all the Labor MPs who refused to cross the floor 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 laws Israel must be breaking for us to say enough “.
“They shine a light on the global community’s rights to self-defense,” she said, calling the ongoing conflict in Gaza a “genocide.”
“From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. »
The Coalition and Labor joined together to condemn the phrase, agreeing on a motion urging senators to “refrain from inflammatory and divisive comments, both internally and externally.” from the room “.
Ms Payman said she was “bitterly disappointed” that more of her colleagues had not joined her in supporting the motion, noting that the Labor Party’s official policy platform “recognizes both Israel and Palestine.
Ms Payman joined the Labor Party because she felt aligned with traditional working-class values, after seeing her parents being exploited while raising her in Australia.
“I witnessed the struggles my parents went through to put food on the table, pay for our education and provide us with shelter,” she previously told the Senate.
“From discrimination and abuse to job insecurity and low wages, my father endured these ordeals without complaining or seeking redress.
“Like many hard-working Australians, it became 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 by Australia as a terrorist organization – killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostages on October 7.
Israel’s retaliation in Gaza has killed more than 35,000 people and injured 77,000 others, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Israel has categorically 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 casualties.
But Ms. Payman clearly described the conflict as genocide, saying: “Instead of advocating for justice, I see our leaders performatively defending the right of the oppressor to oppress. »
She said they “enlighten the global community on the rights of self-defense.”
“My conscience has been troubled for too long and I must denounce this situation for what it is,” she said. “This is genocide and we must stop pretending otherwise.
“The lack of clarity, the moral confusion, the indecision are eating away at the heart of this nation. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.
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