Labor defector Fatima Payman takes swipe against her old party and makes incredible claim on why she left: ‘Every move was reviewed’

A Muslim senator who sensationally left Labor over its handling of the war in Gaza has accused the party of treating her as a ‘diversity hire’.

Senator Fatima Payman, 29, claims she decided to leave the party last month as she felt she was continuously controlled and censored at ‘every’ public event. 

The Afghanistan-born senator for Western Australia accused Labor of editing her speeches and silencing her view on the Middle East.

‘Every move, every interaction, every event I went to, every speech I delivered was controlled, was reviewed,’ she told Sky News on Monday.

‘There comes a point where you lose your agency as an individual and you wonder, what am I doing here?’

Senator Payman accused Labor of only keeping her in the party to tick a ‘diversity box’ but said they weren’t prepared to deal with ‘diversity in thoughts and values and representation’.

‘If parties do not recognise and appreciate and allow for voices of dissent and difference of views, then I don’t think they’re fit for purpose and fit to lead,’ she said.

‘In particular because modern day Australia looks very different to what it did 50 years ago,’ she said.

Senator Payman is part of a wider group of Muslim Labor members in formerly safe seats who are beginning to turn against the party.

Senator Payman on Monday accused Labor of treating her as a ‘diversity hire’ and censoring her public appearances

In particular, several members have started taking issue with the party’s long held tradition of caucus solidarity.

Senator Payman believes the censorship she experienced under Labor is a clear sign it has abandoned its former values.

‘I feel like the same Labor Party that I campaigned so hard for wasn’t the same Labor Party that I found myself fighting against,’ she said.

When senator Payman withdrew from the Party in early July, she cited unresolvable tensions as the reason for her exit.

She accused Labor of failing take a stance on the situation between Israel and Palestine, and the 38,000 people killed in Gaza since the situation escalated following a surprise attack by extremist group Hamas last year.

‘With a heavy heart, but a clear conscience, I have announced my resignation from the Australian Labor Party,’ she said.

‘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.’

Senator Payman (pictured) claimed Labor only kept her in the party to tick a ‘diversity box’ but wasn’t prepared to deal with ‘diversity in thoughts and values and representation’

Senator Payman’s family were refugees who fled to Pakistan from Taliban-held Afghanistan, before they joined other family members in Perth when she was about eight-years-old in 2003.

Senator Payman was elected to a six-year term in 2022 during sweeping Labor victories in Western Australia. She will serve the remaining four years as an independent.

Mr Albanese had reportedly privately told senator Payman that she was elected using Labor’s platform, and urged her to quit the Senate entirely so the government could reappoint someone from within to the Senate position.