We don’t diminish people’s pain over Gaza: Treasurer
Alex Mitchell |
A defiant Fatima Payman has been suspended from the Labor caucus after vowing to break ranks, as leading figures consider her future.
The WA senator pledged to cross the floor again in support of Palestinian statehood, walking away from Labor expectations that members vote as a bloc.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who had previously banned the senator from a single party room meeting, suspended her from the caucus altogether as a government spokesperson accused her of “placing herself outside the privilege” of the party.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the government didn’t diminish the “legitimate pain” people were feeling because of the “senseless violence” in the Middle East.
“We get much more done when we act collectively rather than individually,” he told reporters in Canberra.
“Unfortunately, in this instance, that has been breached that sense of solidarity, that sense of collective purpose.”
Labor’s factions will hold meetings on Monday before caucus meets on Tuesday, when tougher penalties including the potential expulsion of Senator Payman could be discussed.
She ruled out quitting the party on Sunday, suggesting her vote was consistent with Labor’s core principles.
Labor minister Anne Aly, also a Muslim woman, said her attempts to reach out to Senator Payman had not been successful.
“It is a bit emotional for me, because I had hoped that things might be different to whoever comes after me,” she told ABC’s RN on Monday.
Asked if the suspension risked ostracising segments of the Muslim community, Ms Aly said there were different views held on how to make change.
She said Senator Payman didn’t speak up when Labor’s motion on a two-state solution went to the caucus.
Labor’s 2023 national platform specifically calls on Australia to recognise Palestine as a state and expected the issue to be a priority for the government.
“The party to me, rank-and-file members, are unionists, are phone bankers, door-knockers, life-long members of the party who put together the platform,” Senator Payman told ABC’s Insiders on Sunday.
“The decisions the caucus makes, obviously are up to them, but I do not intend on leaving the party because I firmly believe I’ve upheld all the values of what we as the Labor Party should stand for.”
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie indicated his support of Senator Payman, believing her actions were consistent with Labor’s call for a two-state solution in the Middle East.
“Of course Senator Payman is right, you can’t honestly advocate for a two-state solution unless you’re prepared to recognise the sovereign state of Palestine,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Confirming the indefinite suspension on Sunday, a government spokeswoman said Senator Payman’s “actions and statements” forced their hand.
“If Senator Payman decides she will respect the caucus and her Labor colleagues she can return, but until then she is suspended from the right to participate in federal parliamentary Labor Party caucus meetings and processes,” they said.
The death toll in Gaza is approaching 38,000, according to the Hamas-run local health ministry.
Israel launched a campaign in Gaza after designated terrorist organisation Hamas killed 1200 Israelis and took about 250 people hostage – according to Israel’s tallies – in an attack on October 7, 2023.
AAP
