Australia’s first hijab-wearing senator said her family did not flee from Afghanistan for her to remain silent in the face of atrocity
At 1.57pm – just three minutes before the Australian parliament’s final question time before the winter recess – journalists’ phones pinged with a hotly anticipated media alert.
“Witnessing our government’s indifference to the greatest injustice of our times makes me question the direction the party is taking.”The senator confessed that recent weeks had been “very difficult” on a personal level. “A short while ago, I received a message from senator Payman addressed to me. ‘Dear prime minister, thank you for your leadership. It has been an honour and privilege to serve in the Australian Labor party’. And it went on to indicate her resignation as a member of the ALP.”
Pratt, a gay senator who campaigned within the party for years on marriage equality, had to vote against same-sex marriage in the years before Labor formally supported it. Payman’s decision to break caucus rules, telling ABC’s Insiders the Palestinian people in Gaza could not afford to wait 10 years, was a direct reference to those in the party who patiently agitated on the issue within the Labor tent in the late 2000s and early 2010s.
The Nationals senator, Bridget McKenzie, had asked how Albanese could be expected to be taken seriously after being “comprehensively outplayed” by the young senator.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Labor senator Fatima Payman 'indefinitely suspended' from Labor Party caucusLabor senator Fatima Payman has been 'indefinitely suspended' from the Labor Party caucus by the prime minister after a series of defiant actions regarding her support for Palestine.
Read more »
Rebel Senator Fatima Payman defects to crossbenchRebel Senator Fatima Payman has announced she will officially leave Labor, bringing to an end speculation about her future after her exile from the party's caucus.
Read more »
Why Fatima Payman crossing the floor caused a debate in the Labor PartyWestern Australian senator Fatima Payman has become the first Australian Labor Party member to vote against her party since 2005. So, what are the party's rules? And what happens to those who break them?
Read more »
Labor group praises Fatima Payman for upholding party ‘principles and policy’ to cross floorLabor Friends of Palestine hit out at federal Labor’s stance as ‘weakening’ commitment to Palestinian statehood
Read more »
Labor senator Fatima Payman quits party committee in further sign of isolationThe senator also stepped down from two parliamentary foreign affairs committees last week after comments accusing Israel of conducting a “genocide” in Gaza.
Read more »
Labor senator Fatima Payman quits party committee in further sign of isolationThe senator also stepped down from two parliamentary foreign affairs committees last week after comments accusing Israel of conducting a “genocide” in Gaza.
Read more »