Labor senator Fatima Payman quits party committee in further sign of isolation

Labor senator Fatima Payman has quit an internal party committee, in a further sign of the West Australian’s isolation within the government.

Payman quietly resigned as secretary of the international and legal affairs caucus committee this week, just days after stepping down from two parliamentary foreign affairs committees.

Fatima Payman in the Senate last month.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

While the position of secretary on a caucus committee is not a high-profile role and does not offer any additional salary, Payman’s decision to quit the role comes after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese criticised the first-term senator for using the controversial phrase “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”, arguing it was not appropriate.

Jewish groups consider the slogan a thinly veiled call for the elimination of the state of Israel, but supporters of Palestine argue it is simply a call for freedom and equal rights for the Palestinian people.

Payman has also accused Israel of conducting a genocide in Gaza, and called for Australia to end trade with Israel. Both of these positions are at odds with the government’s stance.

Payman, 29, was born in Afghanistan and is the first woman to regularly wear a hijab in the federal parliament. Her winning a third seat for Labor in the Senate was considered something of a surprise.

Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi speaks with Payman during question time on May 16.Credit: Alex Ellingausen

Last month, Labor voted with the Coalition in the Senate to condemn the “river to the sea” phrase, in a rebuke of the WA senator.

After that vote, Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi embraced Payman, and several other members of the party have remained in contact with her since then.

Albanese has also checked in on Payman since that Senate vote on May 16, but some members of the Labor Party’s leadership team and her Left faction remain furious with the senator.

One of those Labor senators, who asked not to be named so they could discuss the situation, said there was concern about what Payman might do if the Greens moved a motion in the Senate to recognise the state of Palestine.

“People are unhappy with her, there is also concern for her, so people are checking in,” the senator said. “I don’t think it’s at the point where she will go rogue and leave the party, though.”

Another senator, an ally of Payman, argued there was a double standard because Labor MP Josh Burns, who is Jewish, had been allowed to publicly criticise the government for voting in favour of granting Palestine extra privileges at the United Nations last month.

If Payman did cross the floor and vote with the Greens on a motion, she would almost certainly be expelled from the party because of the premium Labor places on loyalty and discipline, and the precedent it would set.

Payman declined to comment.

Greens deputy leader Faruqi has maintained contact with Payman in recent weeks and said on Wednesday the party was considering introducing another motion when the Senate next sits in the week beginning June 24.

“The Greens will be pushing for justice for Palestinians, for the genocide on Gaza to end, for this government, for the Albanese Labor government to listen to their communities and to end their complicity in Israel’s genocide on Palestinians,” she said. “And we will use every tactic that is available to us to allow us to do that.”

Payman has previously voted with Labor and against the Greens on motions that have, for example, called on Israel not to invade Gaza.

The war in Gaza started after Hamas launched a series of terrorist attacks on October 7 last year, killing 1200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. The ensuing assault from Israel has resulted in more than 36,000 Palestinians being killed, Gaza medical officials say. Israel says 290 of its troops have died in the fighting.

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