Labour votes to suspend openly pro-Palestinian senator

Labour MPs have endorsed the Prime Minister’s suspension of a senator for party defection, while senior ministers have called for unity.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese suspended Fatima Payman indefinitely on Sunday after she said in a television interview that she would do the same in a similar vote.

The controversy surrounding Senator Payman has overshadowed the government’s cost-of-living measures in Parliament’s final week before the winter recess.

Mr Albanese told the Labor Party’s caucus meeting on Tuesday that he had been criticised for his reticence but “a little compassion is a strength, not a weakness”.

He also pointed out that Senator Payman was only elected because she stood as a Labor Party candidate.

The Senator had “through her own actions and statements deprived herself of the privilege that comes with attending the Labor Party parliamentary group meeting in the Federal Parliament”.

“This is the most united caucus meeting I have ever been part of,” Albanese said in the caucus room.

She could return if she promised to respect party procedures, he said.

There was no debate and the motion was passed unanimously, a party spokesman said.

Senior ministers have thrown their weight behind Albanese’s bid to suspend the West Australian after she supported a Greens motion in the Senate calling for urgent recognition of Palestine as a state.

It has been common practice at the Labor Party conference to expel members who disrupt the party’s leadership, but the internal rules do not provide for any prescribed sanction.

Senator Payman has described being isolated since then and said she was pressured to resign after her sentence was imposed.

Health Minister Mark Butler “completely” rejected allegations of intimidation against the senator and said Albanese had adhered to established party policy.

“The Prime Minister’s position was set out in a fair and proportionate manner on Sunday following the interview on Insiders,” he said, referring to Senator Payman’s statement on ABC television that she would switch sides again in a similar vote on Palestine.

Voting as a bloc is not a new position, he said.

“This is a long-standing Labour Party principle to which the party’s candidates submit themselves when they are given the privilege of standing for public office with the Labour Party next to their name on the ballot paper,” he said.

Senator Payman has also been instructed to avoid all chamber duties, including participating in votes, she said in a statement Monday.

“I have lost contact with my caucus colleagues. I have been excluded from caucus meetings, committees, internal group chats and whip bulletins,” said Senator Payman.

“I have been banished. These actions lead me to believe that some members are trying to intimidate me and get me to resign from the Senate.”

Colleagues have tried to reach Senator Payman, said Finance Minister Katy Gallagher.

“These are decisions she made for herself,” she said.

“I know that many of her colleagues who have worked with her are desperately trying to help her in any way they can.”

Senator Gallagher rejected the view that this meant there were limits to the diversity that the Labor leadership supposedly prides itself on.

“Our diversity is our strength. The Labor Party has always supported diversity throughout history,” she said.

“Our election to government in 2022 produced the most diverse parliamentary group ever and we are really proud of that.”