Australia: Ruling party suspends Muslim MP for supporting recognition of Palestine

Australia’s ruling Labor Party has indefinitely suspended Senator Fatima Payman from its Senate group for supporting the Green Party’s proposal to recognise Palestine as an independent state.

According to a report by ABC News Australia yesterday, Payman’s backing of the efforts to recognise Palestine on 25 June sparked controversy within the Labor Party.

The party announced that Prime Minister and Labor Party leader, Anthony Albanese, had indefinitely suspended Payman’s right to participate in the Labor’s caucus meetings.

Payman described crossing the floor in parliament as the “most difficult decision” she has had to make.

“Each step I took across the Senate floor felt like a mile, [but] I know I did not walk these steps by myself, and I know I did not walk them alone,” she told reporters.

“I’ve walked with the West Australians who have stopped me in the streets and told me not to give up. I’ve walked with the rank-and-file Labor Party members who told me we must do more. I’ve worked with the core values of the Labor Party – equality, justice, fairness and advocacy for the voiceless and the oppressed.”

The Green’s proposal to recognise Palestine was rejected by the Senate for the second time on 25 June.

In 2022, Payman became Australia’s first hijab-wearing senator and was the only member of the Labor Party to support the recognition of Palestine, leading to her suspension from the party meeting as from the beginning of July.

The Labor Party requires all of its parliamentarians to support collective decisions or face the possibility of expulsion.

Read: From Labour leader to independent, Jeremy Corbyn vows to work in the UK and Europe for a ceasefire in Gaza