In her own words: Senator Fatima Payman

The transcript of this interview between Independent senator Fatima Payman and political reporter Finn McHugh has been edited for length, clarity and readability.

Obviously, this hasn't come from nowhere. Back in November, you were joining the Greens calling for a ceasefire. But I want to take you back to May. You break ranks and accuse not just Israel of committing genocide, but the prime minister of “gaslighting” the country. He responded by calling you a “young” senator publicly. What was he like privately?

I'm not going to disclose those private conversations, but I'll just say that he's got an important job as a prime minister. It was a tough situation. He had a very stern but fair conversation with me privately when I was taken to his office. That's the part that I didn't quite like, having his staffer almost wait for me here in the office when I returned from a division and then escort me to the Prime Minister's Office as if I was avoiding it. I was getting stares and glares, left, right and centre.

It was quite condescending, and it felt like I was the naughty student being taken by the teacher to the headmaster's office. But in saying that, it's been a difficult past few months for me, my team, and my family.

Coming to this period since crossing the floor. We’ve had a series of articles targeting you, including one outing the identity of your husband. There was a comment made to the ABC by a now former colleague which could be interpreted as questioning whether your faith gets in the way of you doing your job. How painful has that been, given that seems to be coming from former colleagues?

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