February
Fatima Payman’s backflip on Iranian women’s rights is a betrayal
I spent 804 days imprisoned in Iran. The senator’s surname means “alliance”, but to those of us who care about human rights in the Islamic Republic, an ally she is not.
October 2024
Do you know this week’s news? Answer these 10 questions
Have you been paying attention this week? Test your knowledge across politics, business and world news.
Payman announces new party called Australia’s Voice
Fatima Payman says her party will be “fairer and more inclusive”; Gas project matter of economic survival for Timor-Leste. How the day unfolded.
Let the voters judge your actions: PM dares Payman
Labor turncoat senator Fatima Payman has shrugged off Anthony Albanese’s challenge to her to stand for re-election early, saying her new party may run a candidate in the prime minister’s seat.
Payman won’t lead a single-issue ‘dead duck’ party: adviser
Parliament’s “preference whisperer”, Glenn Druery, says religious-based politics focused on one issue aren’t a vote winner.
July 2024
Dutton’s nuclear dream exposed as a short-term political play
Readers’ letters on nuclear politics; those left behind by selective schools; and Australia’s sectarian divide.
Payman wrong to cross the floor: AFR readers
A majority of readers surveyed by The Australian Financial Review said they did not support the Senator’s decision to ignore long-standing Labor Party convention.
Payman’s position on Gaza is ironic
Readers’ letters on Senator Fatima Payman; migration policy; breaking up supermarket giants; live sheep exports; the demise of coal; and the Downer kiss of death.
The Muslim vote was a disaster for Starmer and could be for Albanese
An analysis of the 23 seats in the UK where Muslim Vote candidates opposed Labour, resulted in an unmitigated disaster for the party. Repeated here, it would be a wipeout for Labor in western Sydney.
Fault lines: The growing divide threatening our society
Labor senator Fatima Payman’s resignation from the party highlights a schism between Muslims and the major parties. At risk is Australia’s multicultural ethos.
Faith-based politics will be bad for social cohesion and Islam: PM
The introduction of sectarian politics would risk further harm to social cohesion and be bad for the Islamic community, Anthony Albanese has warned.
Nobody has come out of the Payman row with clean hands
Labor now wears the ire of Muslim communities, while Peter Dutton has crafted his messaging to squeeze in everything from Fatima Payman to grocery prices.
Fatima Payman goes from rising star to Labor rat
The senator, who had a promising future as a Labor politician, says her conscience left her no choice but to quit. Party insiders, however, are fuming.
The war in Gaza is dividing Australians. Business is worried
Paul Bassat says Australia is fighting a “war of ideas” and losing; John Mullen says business people are too scared to say what they really think and Rod Eddington fears multiculturalism is under threat.
Muslims and farmers, everyone wants a piece of Labor
An unanticipated backlash in WA is the last thing the government needs, given the prospect of the creation of a pro-Muslim political movement targeting heartland ALP seats.
‘Stay tuned’: Payman open to forming a new party
First-term senator Fatima Payman has not ruled out forming her own political party after she quit the ALP, citing its “indifference” to the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza.
Rebel senator to quit Labor, backed by ‘Muslim vote’
Fatima Payman is expected to quit Labor on Thursday to join the crossbench, heightening fears about sectarianism creeping into politics.
Australian Muslim Vote campaign mirrors the US, UK
It has been brewing for months, but the controversy over renegade Labor senator Fatima Payman and her full-throated support for Palestine has spurred it on.
Greens seek profit from human misery: Labor MP
The Greens say they will keep trying to destabilise the government over the war in Gaza.
Payman owes her place in the Senate to Labor
Readers’ letters on Senator Fatima Payman’s stance; how the NDIS drains productivity; misguided calls for a rate rise; why renewables add up; and the need to end live sheep exports.