Fatima Payman

Senator for Western AustraliaAssumed office
1 July 2022 Personal detailsBorn1995 (age 28–29)^[1]
Kabul, AfghanistanPolitical partyIndependent (since 2024)
Labor (until 2024)Alma materUniversity of Western AustraliaSignature

Fatima Payman (born 1995)^[2] is an Afghan-born Australian politician^[3] who has served as senator for Western Australia since 2022.^[4] Initially representing the Labor Party, she became the Australian Parliament's first hijab-wearing Muslim woman after being elected in the 2022 federal election.^[5] On 30 June 2024, Payman was indefinitely suspended from the Labor caucus after crossing the floor to support an Australian Greens resolution to recognise a Palestinian state.^[6] On 4 July 2024, Payman quit the Labor Party to sit as an independent.^[7]

Early life and education

Payman's grandfather was a member of parliament in Afghanistan.^[8]

Fatima Payman was born in Kabul, Afghanistan in 1995^[9][10] the eldest of four children,^[5] and fled the Taliban for Pakistan with her family when she was five years old.^[3] Her father arrived in Australia via boat in 1999 and spent time in immigration detention, after which he worked as a security guard, kitchen hand and taxi driver, so he could afford to sponsor the migration of his wife and four children. The rest of the family arrived in Australia in 2003, when she was eight, and settled in Perth.^[11] Once in Australia, her mother started a business giving driving lessons.^[11] In 2018, her father died of leukemia.^[11]

Payman graduated from the Australian Islamic College Perth, where she was head girl, in 2013.^[12] She studied pharmacy, planning to head towards medicine, but instead got involved in politics.^[13] She has a Bachelor of Arts in anthropology and sociology and a Graduate Diploma of Pharmaceutical Sciences.^[14]

Political career

Payman joined the United Workers Union in 2018 as an organiser^[3] and was also president of Young Labor WA, both organisations she joined due to the exploitation she saw her father experience in various jobs.^[13] She has also worked as a program coordinator at the Edmund Rice Centre WA and as electorate officer for Pierre Yang.^[14] She is a board member of the Australian Islamic College.^[15]

2022 election

Payman was third on the Labor Party's ticket for the Senate at the 2022 Australian federal election and thus not expected to win a seat. She intended to use the 2022 election campaign as "practice" before seriously running in 2025.^[13]

Payman was naturalised as an Australian citizen in 2005, although this did not automatically revoke her Afghan citizenship. As Section 44 of the Constitution of Australia requires all candidates to be a citizen of Australia only, she approached the Afghanistan embassy in Australia in October 2021 to renounce her Afghan citizenship. The embassy advised her that they could not finalise the renunciation because it had no contact with the new Taliban government that seized control of the country in August. The Labor Party received legal advice that Payman was nevertheless still eligible to be elected, as she had taken all reasonable steps to renounce her Afghan citizenship, noting that the Afghan Embassy in Australia did not even know whether the various departments and officers who would be tasked with processing her application in Kabul even exist following the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban.^[16]

At the 2022 Australian federal election, Payman won the sixth and final Senate vacancy after a swing of 6.92% to Labor and a 9.24% swing against the Liberal party in Western Australian Senate voting.^[4] Her election was the first time the ALP won three Senate seats in WA since the Senate had been expanded in 1984.^[17] Elected at age 27, she is third youngest Senator in Australian history and is currently the youngest serving Senator.^[4][13] She has said her priorities include "getting more people from diverse backgrounds involved in politics, improving early childhood education, and climate change".^[4] She has also said she wants to "normalise hijab wearing".^[3] In 2022, Payman was awarded "Australian Muslim Role Model of the Year".^[2]

Tensions with the Labor Party

In a May 2024 speech to the Senate, Payman broke ranks with many members of the governing Labor Party and accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, criticised the Australian government for failing to sufficiently respond to Israel's alleged war crimes in the Israel–Hamas war, and called for sanctions and divestment against Israel. She concluded her speech by remarking "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free". Payman's speech was noted by The Guardian as a "significant rupture with the Labor party position".^[18][19] On 17 June 2024 Payman wrote an article in Al Jazeera English supportive of recognition of Palestine by Australia and argued "Such a move would support the peace efforts, not undermine them, as some have argued".^[20] On 25 June 2024, Payman crossed the floor to vote in favour of a resolution supporting Australian recognition of Palestinian statehood, voting with the crossbench against the government and opposition. Payman stated "My decision to cross the floor was the most difficult decision I have had to make".^[21] She then stepped down from two parliamentary foreign affairs committees and was suspended from caucus for the remainder of that parliamentary sitting week.^[22][23][24] Later, on 30 June 2024, Payman was suspended indefinitely from the Labor caucus after stating in an interview that she would cross the floor again if a similar resolution was before the Senate^[25] and can no longer participate in any parliamentary meetings of the caucus. Albanese said she can return if she "respects the caucus and members".^[6] On 1 July, Payman stated in a Facebook post that she had been "exiled" from the party, that she would abstain from voting in the senate for the rest of the week, and that "some members are attempting to intimidate [her] into resigning from the Senate".^[26]

On 4 July 2024, Payman quit the Labor Party to sit as an independent in the Senate.^[7]

Reactions

Support

Payman has received support from the Labor Friends of Palestine, who stated Payman's actions were "entirely consistent with Labor principles and policy".^[27] The Australian National Imams Council and Australian Greens leader Adam Bandt both praised Payman's act as courageous.^[28]

On 3 July 2024, the Leichhardt branch of the Labor Party, which is within Albanese's electorate of Grayndler, passed a motion supporting Payman. Five other Labor branches had also passed similar motions.^[29]

Former Labor politician Harry Quick, who was expelled from the party after crossing the floor in 2007, stated his admiration for Payman and urged her to not "bend or waver".^[30]

Criticism

Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong criticised Payman's decision, stating that party disagreements should be handled "internally", and that she had voted against same-sex marriage in the past despite her own personal support of it, but had voted against it in keeping with party policy.^[27] On 1 July 2024, Albanese criticised that Payman's actions had disrupted the government's messaging "the day before the most significant assistance that has been given to working people in a very long period of time", referring to the stage three tax cuts and energy bill relief which came into effect that day.^[31] Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley stated that Payman crossing the floor was a sign of Anthony Albanese’s “weak leadership”.^[28] Anne Aly criticised Payman by saying 'Fatima chooses to do it her way" and supported the government position of "recognition should be part of a 'just' peace process"^[32]

References