On Sunday, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese suspended Fatima Payman indefinitely from Labor’s caucus after she said she would again cross the floor if faced with another Senate motion to recognise the state of Palestine.
“By her own actions and statements, Senator Payman has placed herself outside the privilege that comes with participating in the federal parliamentary Labor party caucus,” a government spokesperson said.
Following the suspension, the first-term senator said she had been “exiled” and had been led to believe “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,” she said. “I will use this time to reflect on my future and the best way to represent the people of Western Australia.”
Labor and the opposition had previously teamed up to vote on a motion condemning the pro-Palestinian phrase “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”, after Payman said it in a snap press conference in a break from Labor’s stance.
On May 29, a motion was presented to the lower house of the Australian parliament by the Greens to vote on whether Australia should follow Spain, Norway, Ireland, and Slovenia in recognising Palestinian statehood. The motion failed to pass as 80 MPs voted against it.
Amidst backlash for the suspension, on Monday, Albanese said that the suspension of Payman was “not because of her support for a policy position” but rather was because of the breach of team rules.
