Defence Minister Richard Marles is the first guest on Afternoon Briefing.
His interview was recorded before Fatima Payman officially announced she was leaving the Labor Party.
“I think we’ve tried to act with restraint, but I’ve also made clear that, you know, we’re a team, and the fundamental obligations that come with being a team remain,” he says.
But on caucus solidarity, and why she was not expelled once it became clear she had “strategy”, as the PM suggested on Wednesday, he says:
“To be clear, there is no mandated response. Caucus has its own agency in terms of dealing with all the situations at hand and I think what you can read from what I’ve said previously is a desire on the part of everyone to act with restraint to try and, you know, work this through in that way.
“But it comes to a point where, obviously, the principles of a team need to apply and you’ve seen that really play out over the course of the last few weeks and particularly the last few days.
“Now, where Senator Payman goes with this is ultimately a matter for her.”