The only thing WA Labor senator Fatima Payman has done wrong, according to Labor Party rules, is cross the floor and vote for a motion her conscience demanded.
You can agree or disagree with Senator Payman about whether or not Palestine should be recognised as a state, but for her doing so is being true to a core belief. Even if that means siding with the Greens rather than Labor.
In contrast, the Prime Minister responded to what transpired with nothing but pragmatism. Pure political pragmatism… which is not to say his judgement on that front worked out the way he would have liked.
Anthony Albanese initially let Senator Payman’s violation of Labor Party rules slide. He didn’t want to expel her from the party, or even suspend her from caucus.
The PM was worried that doing so might inflame the situation. It could upset supporters of Palestine, cause tensions within the factional Left of his party, expose how antiquated Labor’s rigid rules about crossing the floor really are and ultimately leave him one vote short in the Senate.
Throw the optics of acting against a 29-year-old female senator from a diverse background into the mix as another reason Albo didn’t want to be too heavy handed.
Behind the scenes, the PM’s office was even keen to highlight past examples where Labor MPs had crossed the floor without sanction, to justify why nothing was being done on this occasion.
To justify his weak response. To justify not following the party rules.
No love lost here: Photos such as this are a distant memory for the PM and rebel Labor senator Fatima Payman
Eventually, the PM hit Senator Payman over the head with a wet lettuce, briefly suspending her from attending Labor partyroom meetings. Which feels more like a reward than a punishment, as I am sure most Labor MPs who have to sit through such meetings would agree.
Case closed right? Wrong. This is where it all came undone.
Senator Payman went on ABC Insiders on Sunday – the day before the start of Labor’s cost of living relief package – and boldly declared that she will keep crossing the floor if similar votes occur. Confirming that for her this is a matter of principle.
That was when the PM realised he needed to act, lest he put party powerbrokers off side.
Labor MPs and factional bosses who are pulled into line whenever they challenge the party collective wanted to know why it was OK for this senator to do so – but not them.
The PM hauled his new young senator to his official residence in Canberra for a meeting after her national TV interview, telling her that she will be indefinitely suspended from the Labor party room.
He told her if she couldn’t put principles aside in the name of the party she should quit the Senate so that Labor can replace her with someone who will. Saying the quiet part out loud.
The issue was also threatening to become a distraction from Labor’s mission this week – selling income tax cuts and energy bill relief.
The PM even said that was the problem when quizzed about the issue on ABC Radio. ‘It’s not because of her support for a policy position that she’s advocated,’ he said, ‘it’s because of the (tax) question that you’ve just asked me. Today is July 1. It’s a day where we want to talk about tax cuts.’
He was again saying the quiet part out loud. He was concerned about how Senator Payman was hurting Labor’s communications strategy.
Tense: Senator Fatima Payman is seen during Senate Question Time on Monday
Everyone knows that Labor and Coalition senators are only elected because they are part of major party tickets.
Albo also used his media interview to declare that the only reason Senator Payman got elected is because of the Labor brand, declaring that a quarter of a million West Australians didn’t specifically vote for her, but for the party. Again, saying the quiet part out loud.
Senator Payman is now claiming that she feels intimidated and bullied: ‘I have been exiled’, she said, pointing to how she was kicked out of caucus Whatsapp groups.
‘These actions lead me to believe that some members are attempting to intimidate me into resigning from the senate.’
Cabinet minister and Albanese rival Tanya Plibersek put her arm around Senator Payman to check on her well being at the swearing in of the new Governor General on Monday.
It shouldn’t be easy to forget all of this is going on against the backdrop of parliamentary reforms in the wake of all manner of allegations of what goes on in the nation’s capital during parliamentary sitting weeks.
Former Liberal MP Julia Banks made a number of claims of bullying within her party in a book she released shortly after her time in parliament during the Coalition’s time in power. The now PM was vocal in his support of her and others for doing so.
Now a new concern is rising for the PM and his Labor team to worry about.
Senator Payman gets a hug from Tanya Plibersek
It didn’t want to rip up its collective rules preventing MPs and Senators crossing the floor against party directives, but now that one has and on the issue of Palestine there are concerns within Labor that traditionally strong support within the Muslim community could wane.
This is especially concerning in Sydney’s west where Muslim populations can have strong influence on the vote. The powerful NSW right is raising such concerns, in the belief that Albo’s flip-flopping has made a difficult situation harder to handle.
Labor always takes its opportunity to spruik divisions within the Liberal Party when its MPs cross the floor. But doing so is their right, and the Liberal Party likes to claim that it is proud of that tradition of senators and MPs voting on their conscience.
In truth such moves are punished in other, non-formal ways. Promotions are held back, pre-selections get harder and fundraising too. But Liberals don’t face any risk of party expulsion for crossing the floor.
The PM can’t escape the bad look that Senator Payman’s actions have caused. He can’t escape the unedifying comparison of her as a woman of conviction compared with him as a Prime Minister of base pragmatism.
But he also can’t escape the reality that his initial weak reaction made the circumstances of Senator Payman crossing the floor worse. And saying the quiet parts out loud thereafter only added to the tensions.
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