Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has slammed Labor’s decision not to expel Senator Fatima Payman after she crossed the floor to vote against the party on a motion on Palestinian statehood, arguing the “shield of caucus solidarity is gone”.
Richard Marles on Wednesday morning confirmed the Senator had avoided expulsion following Monday’s vote on the Greens’ proposal, with the Deputy Prime Minister telling Sky News there would not be “expulsion or anything of that kind”.
Labor MPs and Senators are bound by a pledge to support caucus decisions on bills and motions, with those who cross the floor being typically met with party expulsion.
Ms Ley blasted Labor’s decision to not make the Western Australian Senator face any repercussions as “extraordinary”, taking aim at Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s “weak leadership”.
“Anthony Albanese has just shown such a weak leadership since the attacks on October the 7th,” she told Sky News’ Peter Stefanovic.
“Has Labor unilaterally changed the position, which was bipartisan, on a two-state solution? And what on earth is going on here on the floor of the Senate?”
Ms Ley argued it was a “green light” permitting other Labor senators to cross the floor in the future if they felt strongly enough about an issue.
“So the shield of caucus solidarity is gone and no one has crossed the floor in Labor since 1986 – it’s clearly not Labor Party policy that you do break that caucus solidarity,” she said.
“But here is a clear message that if you feel strongly about something then you can.”
Ms Ley was then queried about the Coalition’s own policy which allows backbenchers to cross the floor on issues.
“That’s something that our party believes in, but it’s not what the Labor Party believes in, and they’ve always said caucus solidarity is supreme,” she said.
“Now I’ve been here for two decades and I know there’ve been issues that Labor Party members have felt really, really strongly about – but they have maintained that caucus solidarity. Well that’s gone now, this is a big test for Anthony Albanese and his leadership.”
Mr Marles defended the decision, telling Sky News on Wednesday Ms Payman continues to maintain Labor values and wants to represent her constituents, and further cited the need for “social cohesion” in the nation.
“We get this is a very difficult issue and clearly Fatima has strong views about it but I think the point here … is that as we’ve been watching this issue play out over the last few months, one thing which has become very apparent is the whole question of social cohesion in this country,” he said.
“This is not a time to be walking about expelling people for particular views, it’s a time where we seek to be bringing Australians together, we will in a sense live those values in terms of how we approach this.”
Ms Payman made headlines in mid-May when she condemned the actions of Israel as “genocide” and broke rank with her party’s longstanding two-state solution in parliament.
She said Australia’s leaders were seeming to “performatively gesture” while defending Israel’s “right to oppress” Palestinians and disguising it as self-defence.
“My conscience has been uneasy for far too long. And I must call this out for what it is. This is a genocide. From the river to the sea. Palestine will be free,” she said.