Fatima Payman was excluded from Labor caucus over her support for a Palestinian state but she has won an unlikely ally

When WA Labor senator Fatima Payman defied Anthony Albanese on Palestinian statehood by declaring — on national television — she would cross the floor again if a second vote on support for a Palestinian state was raised in parliament, she made it impossible for him to keep her in the Labor caucus without a backlash so large it would have ripped apart the government benches. To do so would have risked him being seen as spineless and lacking authority. 

The narrative of Albanese as a weak leader is one the Coalition is keen to paint. It is a narrative that carries danger when it becomes entrenched among voters.

By choosing not to expel Payman but to only to exclude her from the caucus until she abides by the rules, the PM and senior Labor figures have now created a new rule.

It is a significant change to the traditional penalty of expulsion for crossing the floor - a 130-year-old Labor party precedent. This time Senator Payman has retained her ALP membership.

Yet the Labor leadership knows it’s a big change nonetheless and they’ve made it deliberately as a solution to a growing problem that has an intensity no one really knows how to contain. This response deals not only with Payman but with a changing world.

Senior Labor figures believe this new standard can now be used by others in what is a compromise that allows MPs like Payman to remain in the party, and not join the crossbench.

Yet the move does deprive MPs who refuse to be bound by a Labor vote the right to stay in a caucus that is designed to "bind" all of the party's MPs.

But Payman's calculated defiance is also in many ways the worst outcome for Labor.

And there is anger too - that on a week where tax cuts begin and Labor wants the focus on domestic Australian issues - the Gaza war is again dominating. 

It will galvanise members of the Arab and Muslim community who are already red hot with rage at Labor for not taking a stronger stance against Israel's bombardment of Gaza and supporting a Palestinian state.

MPs representing Arab and Muslim seats believe this issue has done huge damage to Labor. Many believe the decision to exclude Payman from caucus will make that damage worse.

Kos Samaras, a former Labor strategist and director of RedBridge Group, told me the suspension of Payman will have serious political repercussions for Labor.

"The impact of this decision will resonate through suburbs like Sydney's Lakemba and Broadmeadows in Melbourne and many more of Labor's diverse electorates," he believes. "A fire was already smouldering in these areas. Now there is a real danger of it becoming an inferno."

What is behind the move?

The Labor leadership made a calculation yesterday that the Greens would continue to bait them on the issue and force more votes which would lead to a perpetual cycle of questions about Payman's future.

This decision now settles it for the entire parliament. It effectively takes the power away from the Greens because it is now clear Payman will not face expulsion if she crosses the floor again.

Inside Labor the anger at how this has transpired is palpable. 

The prime minister tried to show Payman leniency after she crossed the floor last week.

The Gaza war has been explosive in the community and is a volatile issue. It needed careful management.

Expelling a young Muslim woman was seen to have terrible optics. But when that same senator went on the ABC's Insiders political program on the same day as the deputy prime minister Richard Marles to defiantly say she is prepared to do it all again the PM decided enough was enough.

To show leniency again would have outraged the factional bosses and Labor caucus members who are strong believers in the rule of sticking with collective decisions.

Payman was summoned to crisis talks with the prime minister at The Lodge in Canberra on Sunday afternoon, following the Insiders interview.

It followed earlier talks between senior Labor powerbrokers and was designed to provide a solution to escalating debate over how to respond to Payman's comments before another febrile sitting week began.

Embracing diversity comes with obligations

But what this painful episode has shown is the power of this one senator to unleash a seismic political disruptor inside the Labor party when she broke with strict Labor convention last week, declaring she was "not elected as a token representative of diversity".

The personal is always political. It's a mantra we've long heard and Payman's line was lethal. It expressed the feelings of others who want internal political change.

Payman drew the wrath of Labor factional bosses and some Labor figures who criticised her actions.

Payman is making a bigger point: enlisting diverse MPs comes with obligations.

She wants to remain in the ALP and feels she's on the side of the party's grassroots. After the latest decision by the PM she is now weighing up her options.

And unlikely political allies

In the spirit of solidarity and multiculturalism another Labor MP, who comes from the polar opposite side of this debate on the Gaza war, has showed her empathy and contacted her more than any other Labor politician.

Member for Macnamara Josh Burns, who is Jewish and chairs the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights, is currently working from home in Melbourne because his office was violently vandalised by anti-Israel extremists.

Burns is friends with Payman. She told me he has been there for her more than anyone else in the party.

Just let that sit with you, a Jewish MP who has made the case for Israel has been contacting Payman, a Muslim MP who supports a Palestinian state, more than any other person in her party.

"This isn't a Muslim and Jewish issue, it's a humanitarian matter that impacts all with a conscience," Senator Payman told me.

"Josh is a good friend, who is also going through a tough time and he's checked on me more than any other colleague. We epitomise the diversity of views within caucus and represent modern-day Australia."

Burns told this column he understands how it feels to disagree with the Labor party's position on the war and he doesn't believe she deserves more political punishment.

While he doesn't agree with her view, nor her decision to cross the floor, he hasn't been calling for her head and he wishes she wasn't excluded.

"I really hope for better days ahead, with peace in the Middle East and where both Fatima and I can return to serving the Labor Party alongside each other," he told me.

But as an MP who has broken ranks on the war for entirely different reasons — that the Israeli perspective wasn't being given sufficient consideration — he believes the caucus needs to show more empathy and understand that with diversity will come challenges when MPs representing communities that have deeply held beliefs feel they aren't being heard.

Breaking ranks — as he had also done on Israel — is not easy but reflected the intense feelings inside his community: "Fatima is a friend. I know how hard this conflict has been for my community, and I know it has been heartbreaking for her as well," he told me for this column.

"I take my role as a voice in government for my community extremely seriously. I've tried to work alongside my colleagues in complicated and heartbreaking circumstances."

Burns publicly opposed his own government's vote on boosting the Palestinian Authority's status at the United Nations.

Australia joined 142 other nations in a non-binding vote calling on the Palestinian Authority to become a full UN member and for the UN Security Council to "reconsider the matter favourably". Nine countries voted against and 25 abstained.

Burns described Australia's vote as a "miscalculation", saying we should have abstained.

He said if his opposition to the government's stance means he is a lone voice inside the ALP, then so be it.

Now he tells the ABC that caucus is being tested by the complexity of the issue and the different views on multicultural Australia.

"The beauty of multicultural Australia is that parliamentarians come from different communities and backgrounds, and trying to balance all those perspectives isn't easy, but I think we must be an example to the Australian community about how to debate difficult issues respectfully," he told the ABC.

"One thing I've learnt over the past nine months is how easy it is for politics to become divisive. I don't want to see the scenes we saw at my office continue to escalate. As leaders, we have a role to play in influencing the standards of national conversations, especially ones which are so personal to so many Australians. We must be able to demonstrate to the Australian people that we haven't forgotten how to show empathy, compassion and respect to one another."

The friendship of Burns and Payman is powerful: A Jewish MP and Muslim senator who both oppose parts of their party's Middle East position, providing each other comfort as Labor walks a difficult line and nuance is hard to find.

It's a story that needs to be told.

Personal conflict in politics is not new

The Middle East conflict is not the first time we have witnessed this dilemma of diversity clashing with policy play out.

Gay MPs, including Penny Wong and WA Senator Louise Pratt, clearly felt they had no choice when the same personal conflict arose for them. When Labor was opposed to same-sex marriage they felt they had to respect the collective view, stayed silent, and fought for change from the inside.

Penny Wong faced personal attacks for her position. She is still mocked online for publicly supporting the anti-gay marriage stance. It must have stung.

But Wong defends the structure and system that made her argue against her own rights.

Asked on Sky News about being forced to vote in line with the party's position, Penny Wong said she did so "because I believed in the power of the collective".

"I can understand why colleagues are upset [about Payman's action]. I can understand how they feel because there is trust between colleagues as well," she said.

Wong said Labor expected Payman to abide by decisions of the caucus.

"On this occasion, the prime minister has shown restraint," she said. "We understand the importance of caucus solidarity. It is very rare for a Labor person not to respect that. It's a principle which has served us well."

In Labor ranks the personal sacrifice of submitting to the collective dominant view even when it is at odds with your basic humanity is seen as a strength not a weakness.

But among a new generation of younger politicians — and most notably voters — toeing the line on something as fundamental as who you love is not seen as something to celebrate.

On the comparison with the same sex marriage issue Senator Payman said this war is more urgent — something that will no doubt frustrate those who fell into line on queer rights.

Advocacy from within to legislate same-sex marriage took 10 years, Payman told Insiders host David Speers yesterday.

"We're talking about 40,000 Palestinians being massacred here. These Palestinians do not have 10 years," she said.

"And so that's why I will use what is within my power as a backbench senator to continue advocating for a just and lasting solution. And I think that's what fair Australians want. And that's what I've been talking to people on the ground in Western Australia — whether they be rank-and-file members or the locals — and that's what I've been hearing."

A freight train of generational change

The Labor party is not only faced with new perspectives because it is becoming diverse — it is also facing the freight train of generational change. And that comes with new standards about what is wrong and right.

Labor insiders have noted that Senator Payman poses a further complexity for the party in that she essentially voted on a motion that complies with the Labor party platform.

At the 2023 Labor national conference the ALP platform contained a commitment to support "the recognition and right of Israel and Palestine to exist as two states within secure and recognised borders".

This suggests any move to expel her, if it had been triggered,would be met with outrage: Payman has voted with official Labor platform endorsed policy.

What's clear is that in Albanese's caucus the diversity of the room may be providing challenges — but it also reveals a strength: if you want to represent Australia you are going to have to reckon with what it now looks like.

The friendship of Josh Burns and Fatima Payman tells that powerful story.

And Burns's willingness to argue that Payman should be supported highlights how that diversity is also challenging the ALP's established code of conduct.

The ALP is the only party in the parliament to have two MPs who represent both sides of this polarising debate. The fact that they are friends and not bitter rivals is something to be celebrated.

Patricia Karvelas is the presenter of RN Breakfast and co-host of the Party Room podcast. She also hosts Q+A, which returns on ABC TV in August.