Labor Senator Fatima Payman is expected to remain in the party, despite becoming the first Labor member to vote against the Government since 1988.
Payman voted with the Greens and two independents on a motion calling on the Senate to recognise a Palestinian state.
A Government spokesperson confirmed to TDA there are no plans to expel her from the Labor Party.
Here’s what you need to know.
Fatima Payman
29-year-old Senator Fatima Payman is one of the youngest members of Parliament.
She was elected as a Labor Senator in 2022 and is the first member of Parliament who wears a hijab.
Last month she went against the Government’s official position when she proclaimed the war in Gaza was a “genocide”.
Following that, she stepped down from multiple foreign affairs committees.
The vote
Last night, the Greens presented a motion calling on the Senate to, as a matter of urgency, “recognise the State of Palestine”.
Payman voted with the Greens on its motion, alongside independents David Pocock and Lidia Thorpe.
The Government unsuccessfully tried to make changes to the motion, qualifying that it would recognise a Palestinian state “as part of a peace process in support of a two-state solution and a just and enduring peace”.
Payman remarks
After the vote, Senator Payman addressed media outside the Senate.
She acknowledged that she risked being expelled from the party as a result of her vote but said she wanted to remain a member of the Labor Party.
In crossing the floor, she referenced her late father, saying: “I have made a decision that would make him proud.”
Government response
When an MP or Senator votes against their party, it’s called “crossing the floor”. The Labor Party has strict rules restricting its party members (also known as “caucus”) from crossing the floor.
A Government spokesperson told TDA that Senator Payman “intends to continue representing the Western Australians who elected her as a Labor Senator”.
“There is no mandated sanction in these circumstances and previous caucus members have crossed the floor without facing expulsion.”
Speaking to the ABC, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles ruled out expelling Payman from the Labor Party.
He added there would not likely be any further discipline of Senator Payman.
As social divisions deepen due to the Israel-Hamas war, Marles said: “Now’s not a time to be going around expelling people because they’re expressing a particular opinion.”
Reaction
Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi, who introduced the original motion, told TDA she commended Payman for her “immense courage, immense humanity, and integrity” in crossing the floor.
Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley said Payman’s dissenting vote showed “weak leadership” from the Prime Minister, saying it gave the “green light” for other Labor politicians to vote with their conscience on particular issues.
