Labor believes Fatima Payman’s rebellion was plotted for a month

Right up until the moment she hit send to distribute her statement asserting she had been exiled, Labor colleagues had been reaching out to Senator Fatima Payman to offer reassurance, tea and sympathy. The last thing they wanted was for her to feel unwanted.

Tanya Plibersek had hugged Payman in the chamber on Monday after Sam Mostyn delivered the first of two brilliant speeches – coincidentally appealing for greater kindness – marking the beginning of her tenure as governor-general.

Illustration: Dionne Gain

The Finance Minister, Senator Katy Gallagher, has been in constant contact with Payman both before and after she crossed the floor last week to vote for a Greens motion on Palestinian statehood even though the government crafted an amendment which it believed satisfied the concerns of caucus.

When this amendment – which provided for recognition of Palestine after a ceasefire agreement and as part of a two-state solution – was discussed at a full caucus meeting before it was put to the Senate, Payman offered no objections to it.

Nor did Payman speak out when the amendment was discussed for a second time before the Senate vote at a separate meeting of Labor senators chaired by Foreign Minister Penny Wong.

Nor did Payman forewarn Wong that she had decided to vote for the Greens motion. She had told colleagues she had not made up her mind, that she was praying for guidance, waiting for God to advise her on what course to take.

Fatima Payman and Tanya Plibersek after the swearing-in of Governor-General Sam Mostyn.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Wong exchanged text messages with Payman after the vote, then encouraged other MPs to support their troubled colleague. Not that she needed to ask. It has been such a traumatic time that all MPs – Muslim, Jewish and Christian – have been looking out for one another. Anthony Albanese, aware Payman was struggling, called her weeks ago to make sure she was OK. They spoke for an hour.

Another Muslim MP, Anne Aly, who had briefed caucus on her official visit to Jordan for the Gaza Peace Conference, revealed on Monday she had also reached out to Payman.

Victorian backbencher Josh Burns, who is Jewish and has faced vicious antisemitic attacks, likes Payman. He regards her as a friend. He texted her on Monday after she had been suspended indefinitely by the prime minister the previous day, thanking her for her friendship. Just before Payman’s statement hit on Monday, Gallagher asked her if she was up for a cuppa. She renewed the offer on Tuesday.

The young senator had determined on a course of action then executed it with skill and steely resolve.

The first any member of the government knew she had decided to appear on ABC’s Insiders on Sunday was when Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, who was the main guest, vacated the chair – metaphorically speaking – to make way for her.

Albanese, loath to alienate Palestinian supporters, anxious to avoid a full-blown crisis, or incite community unrest, or distract from the tax cuts and cost of living relief, initially tapped her with a feather for crossing the floor.

After the Insiders interview, he had no choice but to deal more harshly with her outright defiance of his authority. In any case, she had already made it clear to colleagues she would answer for her actions to a higher authority. Clearly not caucus and not Albo.

Payman’s lack of responsiveness, her failure to reveal her intentions on the motion and the secrecy surrounding her appearance on the top-rating political talk show, fed Labor’s suspicions it had all been carefully pre-planned with outside help.

Those suspicions were confirmed by news she had been consulting the so-called preference whisperer Glenn Druery, who has been in contact with Muslim groups planning to run candidates against Labor MPs. Those MPs are concerned such a move would split their vote and enable Liberals or Greens to win.

Labor expects Payman to quit the party as early as Thursday then announce she has signed up with the independent Muslim movement.

Albanese said on Tuesday night the evolution hadn’t happened over 24 hours then added on Wednesday that upcoming announcements would explain the strategy “over more than a month”.

If it was a divinely inspired plan, it was not designed to help Labor.

Regardless of her motives and the merits of the motion itself – engineered by the Greens to cause mayhem and to harvest the votes of disaffected Labor voters – Payman was entitled to vote according to her conscience and to her beliefs.

The saga showed that Labor’s rule against floor crossing must be changed if it is to deal with the threat from independents and the Greens. Voters can tolerate a level of dissent and they have a soft spot for rebels.

Labor needs mechanisms to manage that without fracturing, so that if MPs do cross, it’s just another news story, not a crisis.

Payman, who has not responded to a text and email from this column requesting to speak, could at least be responsible for precipitating a much-needed reform. But it’s the way she organised her rebellion that has outraged her colleagues.

On the other side – where the Nationals have assumed control after forcing the Liberals to commit to building and owning nuclear reactors and controlling supermarkets – there is no high moral ground on such matters.

Last week, opposition MPs accused former NSW treasurer Matt Kean of treachery for agreeing to chair the Climate Change Authority at the invitation of Chris Bowen.

Kean, staying true to his beliefs, will be doing a job for which he is eminently qualified. He is not the first politician, and certainly won’t be the last, to accept a job from his opponents.

It hurt more because Kean delivered the most potent line against nuclear energy – that he had investigated it then rejected it because he did not want to bankrupt his state.

Kean remained philosophical about the attacks, telling confidants: “My friends are still my friends and my enemies are still my enemies.”

Often in politics it’s impossible to distinguish. For some in Labor, Payman remains a friend. For others, to quote one, she is “just ratting”.

Niki Savva is a regular columnist and author of The Road to Ruin, Plots and Prayers and Bulldozed, the trilogy chronicling nine years of Coalition rule.

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