Who is Australian Senator Fatima Payman? Why has her support for ...

Fatima Payman was elected to the Senate for Western Australia in 2022. Image courtesy: @SenatorPayman

An Australian Senator has left the country’s Parliament divided.

Fatima Payman, an Australian Muslim, was suspended from the Labor government.

Payman crossed the floor of the Senate to vote against her own party on Gaza.

But who is the 29-year-old?And how has Payman’s Gaza support impacted the Parliament?

Let’s take a closer look:

Who is she?

According to BBC, Payman was born in Kabul in 1995.

As per VOA, she came to Australia as a refugee with her family when she was a child.

She is the country’s first federal politico to don the hijab.

Payman was the Chair of Standing Committee on Publications and Deputy Chair of Joint Committee on Publications.

She was elected to the Senate for Western Australia in 2022.

She will serve in Parliament till 2028.

She has a BA from the University of Western Australia and a Graduate Diploma in PharmSc from the University of Western Australia.

Payman served as secretary of the Multicultural Labor Branch from June 2019 to June 2022.

She was also Equity and Diversity Officer for Young Labor (WA) in 2020.

She later was elected president of Young Labor (WA) in 2021.

In 2022, she was awarded the Australian Muslim Role Model of the Year.

Gaza support splits Parliament

As per The Conversation, Payman supported a motion from the opposition Greens to announce “the need for the Senate to recognise the State of Palestine.”

The motion was defeated easily – 52-13 – with Labor and the Coalition coming out against it.

Australia has been supporting a two-state solution in West Asia.

The government went against this motion after attempting to insert a clause in it that stated that the recognition should occur “as part of a peace process.”

BBC quoted Payman as saying it was “the most difficult decision" of her political career.

She said that each step across the Senate floor “felt like a mile”.

She said she was “proud” of her actions and “bitterly disappointed” that others hadn’t done the same.

“I walked with my Muslim brothers and sisters who told me they have felt unheard for far too long,” Payman said.

VOA quoted Payman as saying that Australia “cannot believe in two state solutions and only recognise one.”

Fatima Payman supported a motion from the opposition Greens to announce “the need for the Senate to recognise the State of Palestine.” AFP

Payman now says she has been ‘exiled’ from her party over the vote.

She claims to have been removed from all caucus meetings, group chats and committees.

Anne Aly, the first Muslim woman elected to Australia’s parliament, as saying she did not agree with Payman’s approach.

“I choose to do things in a way I think will make a material difference on the ground. Fatima chooses to do it her way," Aly told ABC.

Jewish Labor MP Josh Burns said, “Parliamentarians come from different communities and backgrounds, and trying to balance all those perspectives isn’t easy, but we must be an example to the Australian community about how to debate difficult issues respectfully.”

Australia’s Labor government has defended its action.

“By her own actions and statements, Senator Payman has placed herself outside the privilege that comes with participating in the federal parliamentary Labor Party caucus,” a government spokesperson said as per BBC.

‘No individual bigger than the team’

The Labor Party has a long history of punishing and expelling members who defy its position.

The last time a politician challenged the party line was before Payman was born.

“No individual is bigger than the team,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

Albanese also called the motion a ‘stunt.’

“We need actually real solutions… this stunt from the Greens was designed to put Fatima Payman in a difficult position. It was designed to do that,” he said.

Some Labor Party MPs have expressed anger at the government.

NSW Labor MP Anthony D’Adam, the co-convenor of Labor Friends of Palestine, told the ABC “the vast majority of the party membership think that the position she’s taken is the right one on the right side of history, and want Labor to be on the right side of history.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the motion by the Greens a ‘stunt.’ Reuters

D’Adam said local Labor branches were passing resolutions “calling on the party to make a much stronger position.”

“I think most ALP members look at the situation in Gaza and are horrified and expect Labor would be more strident in its criticisms of Israel,” he said.

Greens Leader Adam Bandt attacked the government.

“Labor should stop putting pressure on Senator Payman,” Bandt told Yahoo News. “If Senator Payman can cross the floor on a matter of principle you should as well.”

ABC quoted Deputy Liberal Leader Sussan Ley as saying that has asked Albanese investigate any claims of bullying against Senator Payman.

“It shouldn’t have been beyond the prime minister to show the leadership required to deal with this issue without putting a 29-year-old woman in a position where she feels intimidated by her colleagues,” Ley said.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher added that colleagues were “desperately trying to reach out and provide support where they can.”

Albanese has said he is unsure whether Payman will remain with Labor.

“That is a decision for her,” Albanese told ABC. “She has made a decision that she can’t be bound by what puts our team together. I would like to see her rejoin the team and that option is certainly available to her.”

“We have consistently supported a two-state solution,” he added.

“The problem with the motion that was moved by the Greens is it forgot to mention Israel.

“A one-state solution, whether it is Israel or Palestine is not in the interests of Israelis or Palestinians.”

But a defiant Payman has vowed to vote the same way if the motion is brought up again.

It remains to be seen how this plays out.

With inputs from agencies

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