‘Self-indulgent treachery’: Why this act is such bad news for Labor

OPINION: By simply walking across the Senate floor, this self-indulgent act rips at the core of what the Labor Party is. And creates a big problem for the PM.

Caucus solidarity isn’t just a random footnote at the bottom of some dusty old ALP rule book. It is the core of the Labor Party’s very being.

Not only is it the fundamental difference between the Labor and Liberal party rooms, the whole existence of the ALP is based on the principle of unity.

Back in the 19th century, workplace health and safety wasn’t too crash hot. Workers quickly realised that the only way they could improve their pay and conditions was to get organised and act en masse.

If any individual or group broke ranks the workers’ negotiating power instantly evaporated. The movement was only as strong as its weakest link.

The Federal Parliamentary Labor Party arose from that principle. Caucus members could argue with each other internally but once a position was reached by majority vote then all members were bound to abide by that decision.

Again, this is not a technicality that newbie Labor MPs are informed of on orientation day. This is something that any genuine party member feels in their bones. They need no more reminding of it than they do a reminder to breathe.

Senator Fatima Payman abstains from voting.

This is just the beginning of Senator Fatima Payman’s outrageously self-indulgent treachery: She has violated the core values of the party that just two years ago elevated her to one of the highest offices in the land.

On any measure of political or even human decency this alone is unforgivable.

But she has also done this at a time when the Albanese government is under unprecedented pressure and struggling in the polls. The PM himself was last week relegated behind Peter Dutton as preferred prime minister.

The cost of living crisis is escalating, with the prospect of another rate rise on the cards, the climate wars have literally gone nuclear, and the immigration debate, Labor’s ultimate Achilles heel, is aflame.

These are matters of life and death for a first term government. And what has Payman done? Opened up a new battlefront and sided with the enemy.

And no, not the Coalition but the Greens — the party which Labor is most desperate to distance itself from.

Thus it is not just a violation of the Labor Party’s core principles but inflicts yet another blow on the government when it is already at its weakest.

And the third and most telling element is that it was all for nothing. Payman’s vote had no impact whatsoever on the vote being won or lost, and even that would have had no impact whatsoever on the issue in question — a centuries-old conflict on the other side of the world.

It was an action that carried no material benefit to anyone or anything except Payman’s own sense of self-worth. To call it virtue signalling would be an insult to virtue.

The damage to the Labor Party, by contrast, is incalculable. It has already been wracked by division on this issue and Albo’s long-suffering loyalty and forbearance is now being cast as weakness.

Payman may not be immediately expelled from Labor for reasons of present political expediency but she has already cemented her place in history as a pariah.

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