Payman puts spotlight on politicians’ ulterior motives

No one can deny Senator Fatima Payman’s genuine zeal to help the downtrodden. Perhaps she could devote her time and energy to improving the condition of women in Afghanistan where she was born.

That she or the Greens can bring about a change in the very complex conflict between the Palestinians and Israel is delusional. We all want peace in the Middle East and in other countries, but this should not be achieved by bringing discord, defacing monuments, attacking MPs’ offices and other dubious actions in Australia. Furthermore, it is time for changing the rules regarding MPs opting to become independents.

Resigning from a party should automatically exclude them from retaining their seats in parliament.

B. Della-Putta, Thorngate, SA

Another politician has deserted the party they stood for in the last federal election and gone to the crossbenches. This time it is ex-Labor senator Fatima Payman, who voted against her party on the Palestinian issue.

This has happened a number of times over the last few years both in Tasmanian and federal elections where a politician gets elected on a major party platform, then for whatever reason departs that party and goes independent. Surely the voters of that individual would not be impressed as they voted for them as a candidate standing for a major party – not as an independent.

I may be cynical but could it be that these politicians who have left the major party and gone independent went through the process of selection and standing in the election on behalf of the major party with a preconceived plan that at the earliest moment, and for any excuse, to resign from the party and turn independent?

In these cases, the next-highest vote-getter for the major party concerned should replace the person who has resigned from the party, so that party still maintains the original number of seats they had after the election.

Alan Leitch, Austins Ferry, Tas

Politicians calling for former Labor senator Fatima Payman to resign because she came into federal parliament under false pretences should think very carefully.

If that principle were applied across the board it might be hard for parliamentary chambers to field a quorum.

David Morrison, Springwood, NSW

Labor defector Fatima Payman would garner far more respect and credibility among the community were she to focus on championing the rights of people in her original homeland of Afghanistan, presently under the control of the Taliban. This is the country she escaped with her mother as a child. But instead she aligns herself with the latest protesters’ cause celebre.

Fran Feldman, Melbourne, Vic

Gerard Henderson’s analysis could well be correct that the kerfuffle over Senator Payman can only have modest electoral impact (“Payman, ‘Muslim vote’ unlikely to have much effect”, 6-7/7).

But the incident has the potential to do far more social damage than anything we might fear from the ballot box. The zealots and opportunists among Payman’s co-religionists have already seized on the opportunity to trumpet their power within the various Muslim communities.

Inevitably, those expressions of sectarian authority will provoke an inflammatory response from the populist pundits and talkback radio blowhards. Let us hope we have not forgotten the lessons of the shameful Cronulla race riots.

David Salter, Hunter’s Hill, NSW

The ghastly mess that Gaza has become is now used by many as the latest cause celebre. The suffering of its people, according to the likes of Senator Fatima Payman, is the worst thing ever to have happened. They seem to ignore such disasters as the thousands who died in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Myanmar and Cambodia just to mention a few. They were mostly victims of their own leaders. Of course, the killings in Ukraine are rarely mentioned.

Israel is now the obsession of the Jew-haters, who only foam at the mouth on certain occasions. They scream slogans that are bizarre and often threatening. Russia and China are also oddly exempt from such anger. Do we share a common humanity or not? The age of relativism is upon us and hypocrisy reigns.

Alasdair Cameron, Woodend, Vic