PoliticsNow: Albanese not considering further action against 'exiled' Payman

The Prime Minister is not considering further punishment against the rogue senator, who says 'some members are attempting to intimidate me into resigning from the Senate'.

Senator Fatima Payman during question time in the Senate. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

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6:59 pm July 1, 2024

Thorpe labels G-G office a 'waste of money'

Joe Kelly

Key crossbench senator Lidia Thorpe has hit out at the office of the governor-general as a "waste of money" on the day Sam Mostyn was sworn in to the role as the King's representative in Australia.

Senator Thorpe told The Australian that "the sooner we become a republic and have a head of power that is our own, the sooner we can start moving forward".

"And that means a Treaty with First Peoples. The King's representative shouldn't be the head of our government," she said. "How about a blackfulla instead?

"The governor-general role is a waste of money."

The comments from Senator Thorpe come after the parliament agreed to a $200,000 pay increase for Ms Mostyn – lifting her salary to $709,017 a year. Senator Thorpe has previously said her role as an Indigenous woman was to "infiltrate" the Senate and branded the Queen a "coloniser" while reciting the oath of allegiance in 2022.

6:35 pm July 1, 2024

Victoria's Treaty Authority moves ahead

James Dowling

Victoria's Treaty Authority has opened the door for negotiations between the state government and Indigenous communities.

The state body oversees treaty negotiations and administers a database, launched today, that tracks the recognised areas eligible for coverage under the negotiations.

It is a first for Australia and a cornerstone of the state’s reconciliation efforts following the defeated Indigenous Voice to parliament referendum last year.

Treaty applications lodged through the database will be negotiated by government representatives and members of the First Peoples' Assembly, a democratically elected body of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

A statewide treaty negotiation between the Allan government and the First Peoples' Assembly is slated for later this year. Treaty measures, while unique to individual communities, would generally allow communities to manage themselves to a greater extent and pass down policies to address community issues.

The First Peoples’ Assembly also set up the Yoorrook Justice Commission, the country’s first Indigenous truth-telling commission that aims to chart damages and injustices against First Nations communities.

The assembly has been criticised in the past for the high wages of its members, which is on par with senior public servants. This was tipped to be $380,000 a year in December 2023.

5:52 pm July 1, 2024 Highlight

Albanese not taking further action against Payman

Rosie Lewis

Anthony Albanese is resisting taking further action against rebellious senator Fatima Payman despite the West Australian openly defying his leadership and attacking her Labor colleagues.

The Australian understands the Prime Minister isn't considering further punishment against Senator Payman, after he suspended her indefinitely from caucus on Sunday.

Some Labor MPs are furious and think Senator Payman should be expelled from the party after she released a new statement saying she was considering her future and claiming she'd been "exiled".

Mr Albanese said of his Sunday conversation with Senator Payman at the Lodge: "I pointed out to her she was elected as a Labor senator."

5:23 pm July 1, 2024

SA domestic violence royal commission begins

James Dowling

Natasha Stott Despoja is leading the South Australian Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence. Picture: State government

South Australia's royal commission into domestic, family and sexual violence has started its work, with commissioner Natasha Stott Despoja urging victim-survivors to give submissions.

The former senator will have until July 2025 to deliver findings from the year-long, $3m probe.

"My message to victim-survivors is please talk to the commission, but only do so if you are comfortable," Ms Stott Despoja said.

"The single biggest risk factor for being a victim of domestic, family or sexual violence in Australia today is being female.

"For me, the high rates of violence against Aboriginal women are our nation's shame, our particular shame."

Premier Peter Malinauskus said new data on the rates of domestic violence indicated the “raw size of the problem”.

Reporting by the Adelaide Advertiser this week indicated that 10,000 South Australian men were on a domestic violence abuser watchlist. Hundreds were linked to multiple alleged victims.

Submissions from the public can be lodged from Friday.

5:08 pm July 1, 2024

Boost security at national monuments: Paterson

James Dowling

Opposition home affairs spokesperson James Paterson has called for a funding increase to security at national monuments after the vandalism of the Australian War Memorial.

Speaking to Sky News, Senator Paterson criticised Greens senator Jordon Steele-John for refusing to support a motion condemning the vandalism.

“The War Memorial is not a blank canvas for the Greens’ extreme politics, and they should not be defending criminal vandalism,” Senator Paterson said.

Senator Steele-John argued in the Senate today that war memorials were “not politically neutral spaces”.

Senator Paterson said he was “open-minded” about what resourcing the security proposal would entail, as well as the extent of criminal penalties for protestors vandalising commonwealth properties.

“We can’t leave these sacred sites undefended to be defaced like this time and time again,” he said.

5:02 pm July 1, 2024

Canavan praises Payman's 'courage' in defying caucus

James Dowling

Nationals senator Matt Canavan has praised Labor senator Fatima Payman’s “bravery” in going against the Labor caucus, criticising the party’s demand for unity when voting.

In a statement today, Senator Payman said she had been “exiled” from the party after supporting a Greens motion backing the recognition of Palestine as a state.

Historically, Labor MPs who cross the floor or abstain on votes have been expelled from the party or suspended, leading to mounting speculation that Senator Payman may resign from the ALP.

Speaking to ABC News, Senator Canavan said the Labor caucus crushed the individual views of its members.

“When you elect a Labor Party MP, you elect a robot,” he said.

“Good on Senator Payman, she actually has got more courage than a lot of them combined, and I think we're a much better place here if individual senators, as a parliament, could express their views and vote accordingly in this place.”

Appearing opposite Senator Canavan, Labor MP Sam Rae defended the mandate of party unity.

“This isn't about command and control and it's not about automatons, or whatever thing Matt wants to carry on about,” the Hawke MP said.

“It's the principle of the movement. The Labor Party is a collectivist party. This is at the core of this issue, the principle of collective action.”

4:11 pm July 1, 2024 Highlight

'Exiled' Payman considering quitting Labor

James Dowling

Rosie Lewis

Labor senator Fatima Payman is considering quitting the party after being suspended indefinitely from caucus, declaring she had been “exiled” and some MPs were attempting to “intimidate me into resigning from the Senate”.

The first-term senator also revealed she would abstain from all votes in the Senate this week except on matters of conscience.

Historically, Labor MPs who cross the floor – as Senator Payman did last week to support a Greens motion backing the recognition of Palestine as a state – or abstain on votes have been expelled from the party or suspended.

“Yesterday the Prime Minister suspended me indefinitely from the Australian Labor Party Caucus,” Senator Payman said on Instagram.

“Since then, I have lost contact with my caucus colleagues. I have been removed from caucus meetings, committees, internal group chats, and whips bulletins.

“I have been told to avoid all chamber duties that require a vote including divisions, motions and matters of public interest.

“I have been exiled.

“These actions lead me to believe that some members are attempting to intimidate me into resigning from the Senate.

“As a result, I will abstain from voting on Senate matters for the remainder of the week, unless a matter of conscience arises where I’ll uphold the true values and principles of the Labor Party.

“I will use this time to reflect on my future and the best way to represent the people of Western Australia.”

Her public declaration follows Anthony Albanese's refusal in question time to say he would take further action against her.

Senator Payman will be abstaining from a key vote on a live sheep export ban tonight. The industry is centred in her state of WA.

4:02 pm July 1, 2024

AusPost told to avoid regional office closures

James Dowling

Australia Post will be obligated to avoid regional office closures and maintain the price of concession stamps until mid-2026 under a revised statement of expectations released by the Albanese government.

The statement, which took effect today, outlines the government’s priorities for Australia Post and will inform its 2024-25 corporate plan. It comes as the national provider struggles to prove itself financially viable and makes a company-wide shift towards digitising and modernising services.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said the new statement prioritised maintaining national access to essential services.

“Importantly, we recognise the vital role that Australia Post plays in communities, particularly those without face-to-face postal and financial services,” Ms Rowland said in a statement.

“The government’s expectation is that Australia Post will continue to provide these services in areas where the closure of the post office would leave a community without the services they need.”

The Albanese government has called on Australia Post to keep the cost of concession stamps at 60 cents and push the commercial viability of the company through its priority mail service.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said reform of Australia Post would be essential to delivering “improved national productivity” as the needs of small businesses and consumers changed nationwide.

Among the statement’s recommendations are “avoiding planned post office closures in communities where the post office is the only remaining provider of face-to-face postal and financial services,” and “maintaining letter delivery to PO boxes every business day in areas where this currently operates”.

3:38 pm July 1, 2024

Chalmers criticises Greens over homes vote

Staff writers

Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers during question time. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Jim Chalmers has renewed his criticisms of the Greens after the minor party successfully torpedoed Labor legislation designed to entice property investors to construct more build-to-rent properties.

In a vote last week, Greens senators teamed up with the Coalition to send the government’s legislation to a parliamentary committee, reigniting accusations from Labor that the Greens were motivated to intensify the political stoush over housing, rather than alleviating chronic supply shortages.

“The Greens political party had an opportunity in the Senate last week to vote for tax changes, which would incentivise more homes in our communities, tens of thousands of homes,” Dr Chalmers said.

“The Greens voted for fewer homes and higher rents and more homelessness.

“If they really cared about housing, they would vote with Labor rather than vote with the conservatives.”

3:34 pm July 1, 2024

Nationals 'hypocrisy' over live sheep export ban: Watt

James Dowling

Agriculture Minister Murray Watt has accused the Nationals of “hypocrisy” in pushing to block a live sheep export ban after the industry’s decline under the Coalition government.

A 2028 phase-out of the agricultural practice is set to go to a vote in the Senate tonight and is expected to pass with the united votes of Labor and the Greens, along with crossbenchers David Pocock and Tammy Tyrrell.

Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie in Senate question time today criticised the Albanese government for its alleged lack of economic modelling for the viability of the industry closure.

“Labor is callously throwing away the livelihoods of Western Australian farmers, workers and regional communities to cynically capture the preferences of extreme animal activist groups,” Senator McKenzie said.

In response, Senator Watt pointed to the declining viability of the practice due to a decline in exports over the past 20 years.

“I reject what Senator McKenzie is putting forward and we have to note the hypocrisy of the National Party in making this last-ditch effort to defend an industry that actually declined significantly when it was in office,” he said.

“In 2014 to 2015, Australia exported 2.1 million sheep at a value of $224m. In 2021 to 2022, 475,000 sheep were exported.

“Now (the Coalition is) in opposition, they are the biggest supporters of live sheep export you have ever seen. They had the opportunity to do something about this when they were in office, and they did. They sent the trade down by 80 per cent.”

Speaking on Sky News earlier today Nationals leader David Littleproud said his party had been in discussion with suspended Labor senator Fatima Payman to appeal for her vote later today.

Mr Littleproud said Senator Payman could “support Palestine by crossing the floor” in the vote, arguing that live exports are an essential part of Australia’s contribution to food security in the Middle East.

Independent senator Lidia Thorpe was also mentioned as a potential crossbench ally to the Nationals in their move to block the ban, with party members appealing for her vote on the grounds of Indigenous employment opportunities jeopradised in WA by the phase-out.