Payman needs to explain stance to WA voters: minister
Andrew Brown |
Fatima Payman will need to be open with her constituents on where she stands in parliament following her resignation from Labor, a minister says.
The West Australian senator quit the party and moved to the crossbench over her stance on Palestinian rights and freedoms.
Local Government Minister Kristy McBain said while Senator Payman had made her decision to sit outside the government, she needed to be upfront with WA voters on her position.
“She will now have to do work within WA to develop her own election platform and explain to people how she is voting on things,” she told ABC TV.
“She has made that decision herself and will now have to be held accountable to the Western Australian public for decisions that she has made in the Senate.”
Senator Payman said she felt isolated and exiled by Labor colleagues in the days before her resignation.
Ms McBain said it was disappointing the senator felt she had to quit the party to be heard on issues surrounding Palestine.
“We have caucus processes where on a number of issues you can come up and put your own motions forward and have those debated in our caucus,” she said.
“At no stage that I’ve sat in our caucus has Senator Payman stood up and said she felt uncomfortable with any of the positions taken.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has put pressure on the senator to hand back her seat to the party, saying she was only elected because she was on a Labor ticket.
“Fatima Payman received around about 1600 votes (from WA voters),” he told reporters on Friday.
“The ALP box above the line received 511,000 votes.
“It’s very clear that Fatima Payman is in the Senate because people in WA wanted to elect a Labor government.
“That’s why they put a number one in the box above the line, next to Australian Labor Party, rather than voted below the line for any individual.”
AAP
