Muslim friends, do not let independent and former Labor senator Fatima Payman deceive you. She acted with ulterior motive in telling you her conscience left her no choice but to resign from the party and move to the crossbench.
As ALP national president and impeccably accurate forecaster Wayne Swan has said, her actions “can only empower Labor’s opponents on the far right and on the left”.
You must never forget that diversity is Labor’s number-one priority. Only by continuing to vote for Labor can we realise the best interests of Muslim constituents. In fact, no party could be more representative of Muslims than Labor. If you do not believe me, just ask any one of the white male MPs in the safe Labor seats of western Sydney.
Payman has accused Labor of “indifference” regarding the plight of Palestinians in Gaza. This is not only untrue but unfair. The Palestinians are a convenient proxy and vital to appeasing the party’s burgeoning number of anti-Semites. But you have no idea how difficult it is for Labor to give them the nod and the wink while purporting to support Israel’s right to exist.
Labor would not be in government without the support of swinging voters, who like most mainstream Australians abhor anti-Semitism. Its powerful left faction cannot vent its bigotry in the manner of a fringe party like the Greens, whose hatred for the Jewish State is overt, unabashed and is du jour in its leafy inner-city constituencies.
The October 7 attacks by Hamas against Israeli citizens were a conundrum for the Albanese government. It had no choice but to condemn the atrocities. But anxious not to offend those voters rejoicing in Sydney streets following the horrific events, it resorted to moral equivalence. Even before the dead had been buried, Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong took to X to lecture Israel, urging “the exercise of restraint and protection of civilian lives”.
And have you noticed that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese mentions Islamophobia every time he is asked about anti-Semitism? Announcing this week the appointment of lawyer Jillian Segal as inaugural special envoy to combat anti-Semitism, he also foreshadowed the announcement of one for Islamophobia. One is window dressing, the other a sop.
The Segal appointment also reflects a fundamental Albanese trait, that of shifting responsibility. Irrespective of her qualifications, this appointment will do little to ensure the safety of Jewish-Australians. But it will allow Albanese, when later asked about the danger to their well-being, to harrumph and voice the usual platitudes, while not actually doing anything. I can picture it already: “As you are aware, my government appointed an envoy to address anti-Semitic behaviour, and I suggest you direct your questions to her office.”
Yet still Payman would have you believe Labor has no regard for the welfare of Palestinians. She overlooks the actions of Education Minister Jason Clare, who in May played down the significance of the genocidal slogan “From the river to the sea’’, insisting it meant different things to different people. It was a great service he performed for the Palestinian lobby and a selfless one, given he relinquished all credibility in doing so.
Payman’s accusation that she was “exiled” by Labor members is ironic. For example, consider how rudely she treated her former colleagues. As Finance Minister Katy Gallagher outlined, she attempted to “reach out” to Payman numerous times before she announced her resignation, but her conciliatory gestures were not reciprocated. It was a “frustrating” experience, Gallagher lamented last week. How mean of you, Fatima Payman!
It is also a tragic tale of unrequited love. Think of President of the Senate and fellow WA senator Sue Lines, whom Payman described only seven months ago as “my incredible friend and mentor”. Her support was crucial to Payman’s rapid elevation. A kindred spirit in the quest to relieve the suffering of the wretched, Lines in 2022 declared in a Senate speech that Israel was guilty of the “crime of apartheid”. As the Fin Review reported last week, she is “said to be ropeable about [Payman’s] betrayal”. Tut-tut. She is due all the sympathies that a right dill deserves.
Imagine how chagrined Albanese must feel. He had intended Labor’s cost-of-living relief measures to dominate reporting as parliament wound up for the winter break. Instead commentators are talking about the 29-year-old first-term senator who has made the Prime Minister look like a political naif.
“You need to be part of the team,” a forlorn Albanese told ABC Radio last week. “And that’s what Senator Payman signed up for. She wasn’t elected to the Senate because a quarter of a million West Australians put a number one next to her name.”
We share your outrage, Anthony Albanese. Payman gave a solemn undertaking but later reneged on it? This is appalling behaviour, and it fosters distrust of our elected representatives. I presume she too constantly gave assurances along the line of “my word is my bond” before abandoning her commitment?
Albanese’s high dudgeon about compromising collectivism is rich. The political stability that allowed generations of Australians to prosper was not a matter of luck. It was formed by a sense of community, our trust in public institutions, and by valuing our heritage.
But that type of collectivism is anathema to the progressive mindset, which is devoted to grievance and identity politics. It has created a fissure in the body politic which continues to widen.
The examples are many. Think Australia Day blacklisting, the attempt to entrench a race-based activist group in the constitution, rainbow lobby dictates, pandering to minority demands, the stacking of public institutions, and the ideologues and revisionists hellbent on delegitimising our very sovereignty.
Which major party not only exploits this hatred and division for political gain but also houses the cultural militants who drive it? That’s right: the same one that now whines about an individual not observing the greater good.
Now Labor faces the prospect of organisations like The Muslim Vote and Muslim Votes Matter targeting Labor-held seats. And Albanese is reduced to protesting, as he did last week, that this would “undermine social cohesion”.
What you see is no aberration, Prime Minister. It is Labor’s legacy.
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