West Australian Senator Fatima Payman quits Labor Party, slams colleagues

Fatima Payman has taken a scathing swipe at her Labor colleagues while exiting the party, rejecting their ‘pseudo-empathy’. She will remain in parliament as an independent.

Outspoken Senator Fatima Payman has quit Labor over the party’s stance on Palestine, doubling down on claims she was intimidated, in a bitter blow for Anthony Albanese’s leadership.

Ms Payman’s move to the crossbench leaves Labor down a crucial vote in the Senate, which weakens the Prime Minister’s chances of delivering key legislation before the next election.

The 29-year-old West Australian’s allegations of “intimidation on many fronts” have upset and angered her former Labor colleagues, who were also stunned by the admission she had spoken with “many” political strategists prior to her split from the party.

Ms Payman, who still has four years left in her senate term, ended days of speculation on the final sitting day of parliament before a five-week break by announcing she would become an independent.

The former union organiser said she had no current plans to create or join a new party, before adding: “Stay tuned.”

Senator Fatima Payman announces her exit from the ALP. Picture: Martin Ollman

Ms Payman said she was “deeply torn” about her decision, but ultimately saw “no middle ground” to resolve her dispute with Labor over its position on Palestinian statehood, so her conscience left her “no choice” but to quit.

The Albanese government supports recognition of a Palestine state as part of a broader peace negotiation with Israel, while Ms Payman — like the Greens — wants immediate recognition.

“My family did not flee from a war-torn country to come here as refugees for me to remain silent when I see atrocities inflicted on innocent people,” she said.

The Coalition said the Prime Minister had shown a “lack of leadership” in his handling of the rogue Senator, while Labor’s President Wayne Swan warned her split would “empower” the government’s opponents.

A number of senior Labor figures have publicly confirmed they tried to offer Ms Payman support, which the rogue Senator rejected on Thursday as fake.

“The pseudo empathy that I’ve been receiving, it has just been disingenuous,” she said.

ALBANESE STERN BUT FAIR’

Asked in Question Time if Ms Payman had been spoken to in an aggressive or intimidating way during their conversations, Mr Albanese said “no”.

Ms Payman also said the PM had not intimidated her, describing their talks as “stern but fair”, although she had found the situation of being summoned to speak with him generally “intimidating”.

Ms Payman heding into her press conference on Thursday. Picture: Martin Ollman

However, she complained that some Senators had made it “clear” they did not want to sit with her in the chamber, while others had been “constantly pushing” her for an answer on whether she would cross the floor before she had made a decision.

Fronting the media on Thursday to end days of speculation about her political future, Ms Payman confirmed she had spoken with political consultant Glenn Druery, who is known for helping minor party candidates get elected to parliament.

But she attempted to play down the significance of their conversation by revealing she had sought advice from “many” others.

“I’ve spoken to other political strategists that may not be as well known,” she said.

“I’ve had so many conversations, (Mr Druery) was just one of many.”

Speaking after Ms Payman had quit, Mr Druery said she “might be the most genuine politician I’ve ever encountered”.

Ms Payman ruled out joining the Greens, but would not commit to providing Labor blanket support on most votes in the Senate.

PM’S DENIAL

The PM has disputed Ms Payman’s claim he gave her an “ultimatum” to either toe the party line or give up her Senate spot to another Labor candidate.

Asked if Mr Albanese was lying, Ms Payman said: “That is for the Prime Minister to answer.”

Ms Payman’s move to the crossbench has the support of grassroots Muslim community groups, but she said was not “affiliated” with them.

The Muslim Vote is one group seeking to mobilise voters who believe Labor’s support for Palestine is lacking.

In a statement on Thursday, the group said they were “not a religious campaign, but a political one”.

“We support … anyone who shares our principles of justice and fairness,” the statement said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra on Wednesday. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Ms Payman said in making her decision she had considered the advice of union and party members urging her to “hang in there” and change Labor from the inside, while also coming under immense “pressure” to “conform” with caucus solidarity.

Ms Payman said she felt she had “exhausted every opportunity” to raise her concerns about the Albanese government’s position on Israel-Palestine.

“Whether it was back in November of last year or more recently, and I just felt that there was there was no place for me to continue these conversations,” she said.

Multiple Labor MPs and Senators have privately disputed this, claiming Ms Payman never raised the issue in party caucus meetings.

She later clarified she had discussed it in Left caucus meetings and raised her concerns about the government’s response to the war in Gaza directly with the PM and senior figures like Foreign Minister Penny Wong.

Senator Fatima Payman has quit the Labor Party. Picture: Martin Ollman

Ms Payman said her interpretation of the party’s agreed policy platform was that Palestine would be recognised as a state in the first term of a Labor government.

On Thursday former leader and NDIS Minister Bill Shorten said he did not accept that interpretation of the party platform, and questioned why she didn’t test the issue internally.

He said had Ms Payman raised the issue in caucus she would have been received with “respect and listening”.

‘OVERWHELMING SUPPORT’

Ms Payman said she had received “overwhelming support” from branch members of the Labor Party from across the country for her stance on recognising Palestinian statehood.

Asked about the West Australians who voted for a Labor Senator, not an individual, Ms Payman said the community had “trusted their voice” in her to represent them in parliament.

“I will continue doing that and serving them,” she said.

Ms Payman said the past few weeks had been “very difficult” for her personally, revealing she had received “death threats” and confronting emails saying “awful things” about her family.

She finalised her decision to quit the Labor Party after Mr Albanese’s comments in Question Time on Wednesday when he said the WA Senator had been planning to leave for more than a month.

Ms Payman (left) crosses the floor to support Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi’s motion to have the Senate recognise Palestine as a state. Picture: Martin Ollman

“I did not expect the Prime Minister … to make an assumption … I’ve been planning this for a month,” she said.

“It’s not true. I have not.”

Ms Payman said crossing the floor was a decision made in the moment based on her conscience.

Ms Payman has not appeared in parliament since Labor MPs and Senators unanimously endorsed her indefinite suspension from the federal caucus during a meeting on Tuesday.

Multiple sources have said Ms Payman’s supporters began plotting her future beyond the party “weeks” before she crossed the floor to support a Greens motion recognising Palestinian statehood.

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Originally published as West Australian Senator Fatima Payman quits Labor Party, slams colleagues