July 5, 2024
SINGAPORE – In July 2022, Ms Fatima Payman, a Muslim from Western Australia, took a seat in the federal Parliament as the first MP to wear a hijab – an event seen as a step forward for the nation and a sign of the ruling Labor Party’s commitment to diversity.
In her first address to Parliament, Ms Payman described herself as a “representative of modern Australia” whose election showed that she lived in “a place where you are welcome and that you can be part of a united collective”.
But on July 4, two years after she entered the Senate, Ms Payman resigned from Labor following her dramatic decision to split from the party, in support of the Greens on motions recognising the state of Palestine.
The move is set to intensify pressure on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as he struggles to address divisions in Parliament and the nation over the war between Israel and Hamas.
But it also poses a political challenge for Labor ahead of the next election – likely to be held in early 2025 – as it tries to retain several seats with large Muslim populations.
Ms Payman’s move has also inflicted more immediate political damage on Labor, which does not have a majority in the Senate.
Her move to the crossbench – where independent and minor party candidates sit in Parliament – will force Labor to try and secure Ms Payman’s vote as an independent, or another Senate vote.
Ms Payman’s resignation has also drowned out Mr Albanese’s attempt to sell Labor’s message that it is indeed addressing the rising cost of living, which includes a tax cut that began landing in people’s pay packets this week.
Ms Payman’s isolation in the Labor Party grew in recent weeks as she claimed Israel was committing genocide in Gaza, and called for immediate recognition of a Palestinian state.
These positions are at odds with the position taken by Labor, which has attempted to steer a middle path between the staunchly pro-Palestinian Greens and the staunchly pro-Israel opposition Liberal Party.
Eventually, Ms Payman took the rare step on June 25 of “crossing the floor” and voting against Labor on a Greens motion to recognise Palestinian statehood.
That was the first time a Labor MP had crossed the floor in 19 years, breaching a 122-year-old party rule aimed at securing party unity that bans MPs from crossing the floor, and may result in expulsion.
Mr Albanese initially signalled he wanted Ms Payman to remain in the party. But she then gave a television interview on June 30, declaring she would continue to cross the floor over the Palestinian issue.
Following that interview, Mr Albanese imposed an indefinite suspension on Ms Payman from party-room meetings.
Labor MPs were reportedly furious after it emerged that Ms Payman had met a political consultant who specialises in helping independents – a revelation that indicated she was preparing for a future outside the party.
This saga finally came to a head on July 4, when Ms Payman announced her resignation. She told reporters she was “deeply torn” and that quitting the Labor Party was the hardest decision of her life.
“I see no middle ground and my conscience leaves me no choice,” she said.
Ms Payman’s dramatic split with her party reflects deep public divisions in Australia over the war in Gaza.
There have been regular pro-Palestine and pro-Israel protests in Australian cities. Pro-Palestine encampments have emerged at several universities amid reports of increasing incidents of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.
Indeed, just hours before Ms Payman’s announcement, pro-Palestinian protesters climbed to the roof of Australia’s Parliament House in Canberra and unfurled a banner saying “War crimes… enabled here”.
The four protesters were arrested after they spent about 90 minutes on top of the building, prompting a parliamentary investigation into the building’s security.
Labor supports a Palestinian state as part of a negotiated two-state solution. Mr Albanese has backed calls for a ceasefire in Gaza but also supported Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas.
However, Labor’s attempt at a middle path has led to fierce criticism from some Muslim groups who have called for Mr Albanese to take a firmer pro-Palestinian stance.
A new interest group, The Muslim Vote, signalled this week that it plans to back candidates in two seats in Sydney, including Blaxland, an electorate where 32 per cent of residents are Muslim.
Across Australia, 3.2 per cent of the country’s 27.3 million residents are Muslim.
Labor has presented itself as a party that is committed to diversity and currently has Australia’s first two Muslim ministers.
But Ms Payman’s resignation will make it more difficult for Labor to appease its Muslim and pro-Palestinian supporters, without abandoning its centrist positioning.
The greater challenge, though, is if Ms Payman forms a new political party or helms a movement that seeks to harness the Australian Muslim community’s concerns about the war in Gaza.
Ms Payman did not rule out forming a party at some stage, admitting she had already met campaigners from The Muslim Vote.
“Stay tuned,” she told reporters. “Anything can happen. It’s an evolving space.”