Labor senator Fatima Payman could face expulsion after crossing the floor to vote against her own party to recognise Palestine as a state.
The two major parties had sought to amend the Greens-led motion but failed to come to an agreement and knocked down the move in the Senate today.
But not before Payman left the Labor bench to sit with independent senator Lidia Thorpe and Greens senator David Pocock to vote in favour of the motion.
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Speaking to reporters immediately after walking out of the Senate, Payman said crossing the floor was the most difficult decision she had had to make.
“I am proud of what I did today and I’m bitterly disappointed that my colleagues do not feel the same way,” she said.
“Australia has long stood for a two state solution.
“My own party, the Australian Labor Party’s policy platform, recognises both Israel and Palestine. We cannot believe in two state solutions and only recognise one.”
Payman said she decided to vote against the party in the chamber and had not notified Prime Minister Anthony Albanese about her decision.
Her vote was a bold and defiant move against her party, whose rules dictate that all members must vote in line with the caucus.
The caucus is left to decide on what penalty will ensue, which could include expulsion.
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Payman said she believed she upheld the party’s values but acknowledged her future would be left up to the party to decide.
“I hope to continue serving as a Labor Party senator,” she said.
The 29-year-old, the first parliamentarian to be elected wearing a hijab, was the first Labor member to cross the floor in almost 30 years.
Greens Party leader Adam Bandt paid tribute to Payman, adding that Labor and the opposition’s joint rejection of the motion was a “shameful” and “cowardly” act.
“What Senator Payman’s action shows is that every Labor MP who said they care about the plight of Palestinians are utterly cowardly and full of nothing but hollow words,” he said.
“Senator Payman’s courageous actions now show up every Labor MP who has refused to cross the floor and to vote to do the right thing.”
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