Bundestag on Monday: Fatima Payman, Greens on vandalism at the war memorial

The prime minister’s words came after the Australian National Korean War Memorial, the Australian Vietnam Forces National Memorial and the Australian Army National Memorial were sprayed with graffiti condemning the Palestinian war on Saturday night.

Mr Albanese said it was an act of desecration of the worst kind as he responded to a question from New England MP Barnaby Joyce during Question Time on Monday.

He spoke more generally about the “frankly idiotic, criminal actions” and said “nothing is as bad as the desecration of these monuments”.

“I sincerely hope that those responsible will be found and face the full force of the law and be punished by all means possible,” he said.

“(They should) also be publicly exposed for what they are. We know what they are – they are not worthy of respect or leniency because of their own actions.”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton joined in condemning Mr Albanese and hoped the perpetrators would soon be arrested.

“I hope that the police can redouble their efforts to identify these individuals and that they can send a clear message to like-minded people that these acts will not be tolerated in our society,” he said.

Albo is under increasing pressure to expel the renegade senator

Mr Albanese was also asked about the fate of Fatima Payman.

During her first term in office, the Muslim senator was suspended indefinitely from the party after declaring that she would continue to oppose the ALP and vote against proposals for Palestinian statehood.

Bradfield MP Paul Fletcher asked the first question, asking: “When will the Prime Minister expel Senator Payman from the Labor caucus for her disgraceful behaviour and her endorsement of the anti-Semitic slogan ‘From the River to the Sea’?”

The question was initially declared inadmissible.

Mr Fletcher then asked: “What actions will the Prime Minister take that match the courage shown by previous Labour Prime Ministers? Or will he continue to be weak?”

Mr Albanese said: “From the river to the sea is a phrase that has been used by both supporters of Israel and supporters of Palestine who advocate a unified state.”

But he condemned the sentence.

“I strongly condemn the use of the phrase ‘from the river to the sea’ because it speaks of a single state, a single state,” he said.

“The fact is that the government’s position is very clear. We support a two-state solution.”

He called for calm and urged Parliament to “lower the temperature in this debate”, referring to social peace.

“The fact is that the government’s position is very clear,” he said.

“We continue to argue that every single innocent life counts, whether Israeli or Palestinian.

“Senator Payman, through her own actions, is guilty of the privilege that comes with attending the Labor Party caucus meeting in the Federal Parliament and I informed her of that yesterday.”

“A completely new low”: Jacqui rails against the Greens

On Monday, army veteran Jacqui Lambie had already submitted a motion to the Senate to condemn the vandals who had desecrated the monuments. However, the Greens refused to support it.

“Do these people really think this will help their cause? Do they really think these disgusting acts of vandalism will bring about a ceasefire?” asks Senator Lambie.

“I don’t think these people have any idea what it’s like to have to go to war and fight, to see your comrades killed in front of your eyes, or to come home with injuries that mean you’ll never be the same again.”

Senator Jordon Steele-John said the Greens would not support Senator Lambie’s motion because war memorials are “not politically neutral places”.

“The Australian Constitution does not contain an explicit commitment to freedom of expression,” he said.

“If we are to believe that the men and women of the ADF gave their lives in wars and conflicts to defend these freedoms, then we must confront the reality that protesting, that painting, is a form of expression.”

“A whole new low!” exclaimed Senator Lambie.

Raff Ciccone of the Labor Party also sharply attacked the Greens, describing Senator Steele-John’s comments as “completely inappropriate” and “insulting”.

He said the Labour Party condemned vandalism at “one of the most sacred places in the country”.

“Australians have a right to peaceful protest, but they do not have the right to destroy, spray paint or desecrate our monuments.”

James Paterson of the Coalition said the motion could have been a “moment of unity” for the chamber if the Greens had supported it.

“It is extraordinary that an elected member of this House would come here and defend the defacement and desecration of these monuments,” he said.

The motion was adopted and did not require a vote.

Albo reaffirms ban on renegade senator

Speaking for the first time since suspending Senator Payman indefinitely, Albanese said her decision to appear on ABC’s “Insiders” and vow to oppose Labor’s position on a Palestinian state was deliberately disruptive.

On Sunday, the 29-year-old senator’s one-week suspension in her first term was upgraded to an indefinite ban after she said on the news program that she would continue to switch sides.

Mr Albanese said Senator Payman’s comments and their timing made her continued attendance at Labor caucus meetings untenable, but he added specifically that she was not suspended because of her “support for any political position she represents”.

He said their actions were aimed at “undermining the collective position of the Labor Party” and had “disrupted” the implementation of Labor’s cost of living policy.

“Today is July 1st. On this day we want to talk about tax cuts. We want to talk about our economic support to reduce those cost of living without increasing inflationary pressures,” he told ABC radio.

And instead you have moved seamlessly on to the actions of an individual aimed at undermining the collective position of the Labor Party.

“No individual is greater than the team and Fatima Payman is welcome to rejoin the team if she accepts that she is a member of it.”

He also criticized the Greens’ original proposal as a “trick” to “put Senator Payman in a difficult position.”

While Coalition members can switch caucuses and vote against the party line, Mr Albanese said the ALP’s rules would not change.

“We have a process where people are involved, respect each other and do not accept leniency as was the case with the decision last week,” he said.

“To pretend that the Senate recognizes the states is simply untenable.”

Green Party leader Adam Bandt was later asked if he had spoken to Senator Payman as speculation continues about her future in the Labor Party.

“I am constantly chatting with MPs from across the political spectrum. All of these chats are confidential and I will not say here what the content of these chats is,” Bandt said.

Measures to reduce the cost of living

While government MPs are pushing hard for Labor’s $23 billion tax cuts, which came into effect on Monday, the cost-of-living measure is being criticised for not being enough to deal with the cost-of-living crisis.

Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie said the policy could have been better targeted at supporting low-income Australians and was merely a “quick stopgap measure”.

“It struck me that the government at the time wasn’t listening to us, but people like us didn’t need tax breaks, OK,” she said during her appearance on Nine’s Today.

As a backbencher, Senator Lambie receives $233,643 per year.

“If we passed this along and made sure that the people who are really struggling could have actually gotten a much bigger tax relief,” she said.

“This is just a stopgap measure. It’s absolute nonsense, and on top of all that, electricity prices have gone up,” she said.

However, Northern Territory Senator Malarndirri McCarthy said the changes would be “quite significant”.

“We’re talking about a large portion of Australian taxpayers benefiting from this and I think we’ll have to wait and see how that plays out,” she said.

“We are very confident that it will have a positive impact.”

Originally published as “Greens reject motion to condemn vandalism at war memorials”