Senator Fatima Payman has launched her political party, Australia’s Voice, with candidates selected to compete in key Federal senate seats across Australia in this year’s federal election. AMUST’s Manarul Islam sat down with Senator Payman earlier this month to gain an insight into her and her party’s plans.
AMUST: Assalaamu Alaikum. How are you?
Fatima Payman: Wa alaikum assalaam. I’m very well. I’m delighted to be here. Ramadan Kareem.
A: To what extent will Australia’s Voice be contesting this year’s federal election?
FP: Well, thank you for the question. Australia’s Voice is in it to win it. We’re here to challenge the status quo, and give voters who feel abandoned by the major parties an alternative that they can trust, an alternative that is based, on independent, principled representation.
We’re contesting key Senate seats and we’ve made announcements in Victoria, as our lead candidate, Mohamed El-Masri hits the ground running and we’ve also got Megan Krakouer in WA and Inshallah, we’ll have the other announcements, follow through.
But the goal isn’t to just be on the ballot. It’s to build a movement that lasts long. and that ensures people continue having or, you know, reinstate that faith that people feel seem to have lost because of the two major-party duopoly, prioritising their (own) interests and corporate interests over what people and everyday Australians have been calling for.
So we know that a lot is happening on the ground in the lower house, but people often forget that the Senate exists, and it plays such a crucial role when it comes to being able to pass legislation, in both houses. So yes, there is a large chunk of the introduction and debate that takes place in the lower house but if the bill doesn’t pass, the Senate, it doesn’t make it through.
So that’s what Australia’s Voice hopes to achieve, to hold the balance of power in the Senate, become [part of] a stronger crossbench where we can hold the government to account. we can ensure that it’s prioritising the needs and concerns of everyday Australians on the ground, rather than just ramming through and making dirty deals with the Coalition to just benefit themselves.
I mean, the prime example for that was the recent electoral reform bills, where one of the many measures is defeated MPs get a payout of $120,000, plus three free, return flights to Canberra. I mean, name me another job where you get paid when you’re fired. You know, it’s just it’s a rort that needs to be highlighted and (we need to be) reminded that these major parties are only in it for themselves and they’ve lost touch with everyday Australians.
A: Your Senate seat is not up for election this time. What what are your plans beyond this election?
FP: Yes, nationally senators have six-year terms. I may not be up for re-election this time around, but it’s important for us to give that strong alternative for everyday Australians to vote for. With our subsequent plans: I know that this is just the beginning. we’re not a one-election experiment. We’re building something that’s long term.
This movement is gaining traction. we’re seeing this incredible growth to our base, and we’re hoping to keep increasing it, strengthening our community connections, and making sure that we’re ready to contest even more seats next time. And, (with) Australia’s Voice, our make-up and DNA isn’t just about winning elections.
We’re more than that. It’s about shifting, you know, political culture, the discourse, the debates that go on, and ensuring that people feel that sense of empowerment, that power lies with your average Australian who is doing it tough and struggling, and may not be across the political discourse as much. For them to realise that at the end of the day, it’s them that politicians are working for, not the other way around.
And we need to change the way leadership is done, from a top down to a bottom up approach, where we make sure that people on the ground can feed information and make sure their concerns are directly sent to those policymakers and politicians who actually might get to make the decisions that will impact, communities right across Australia.
A: Do you have plans for Australia’s Voice at the state/territory level?
FP: We’re definitely exploring it. The issues we care about, like cost of living, housing, education, workers rights. They’re not unique. And they don’t just stop at a federal level. If we see the opportunity to make a real difference at a state and territory level, then we’ll take it.
A: Can you can you describe the treatment you received from the federal Labor party once you voted for Palestine and how that felt?
FP: So let’s just say it wasn’t warm and friendly. I think from the moment I took a stand, I was isolated. I was iced out. Some of my colleagues wouldn’t even look me in the eye. and I think the message was very clear that obedience is valued over principles. caucus solidarity is more important than the concerns of your constituents. That political expediency and longevity is valued more than your conscience.
It was a clear reminder for me that I didn’t enter politics to be a rubberstamp, or to be in photo opportunities and just look pretty. I’m here to represent my constituents and my conscience and the Labor Party assumed I would just comply because it’s my first time.
I had some colleagues even come up to me and tell me, “oh, think about it. In in the next term of government, you could potentially have, like an assistant minister role or a position that you could make, you know, important changes”.
But I’m not here to become a minister. I’m here to take a stand in what’s happening. especially on the recognition of a Palestinian state – like that was the line in the sand that I had to draw and say there are many things [on which] we can agree to disagree, but this is something that I heavily campaigned on, and also recruited members within the state and national level when we had conferences, when we debated on it, when we were agreeing what the wording of those resolutions and motions were going to put on our party platform. To then be rendered useless and not even taken into consideration, it honestly felt like, a massive disappointment.
And I think many, many Australians out there are not just disillusioned, but they’re disappointed because after nine years of a Coalition Government, the Labor Government and Anthony Albanese as a person contesting to become prime minister, he gave everyone hope.
And people looked up and said, “you know what? This could be that opportunity where things shift for us as Australians, on both the national and international scale”. But to have the Labor Government elected and put into power but then to see the the complicity, the silence, the deafening hypocrisy that we were constantly seeing, the double standards.
I think people were just very disheartened and disappointed – they expected better. And the Labor Party and, of course, I mean, nobody expects anything from Dutton and the Coalition, but people expected more and Labor just made everyone feel like their hopes and dreams tied to the Labor Party was just a waste. They felt let down and rightfully so.
A: Did you receive any informal support from Labor MPs or Senators?
FP: So I would have certain MPs, and Senators who would privately either say, look that they either agreed with my position, but they just couldn’t come out and say it, or they would, show pseudo-empathy and people who I’ve never spoken to would just randomly message me and you could tell that the messages weren’t genuine.
And then there were also those who would say, “oh, I’m checking in on your mental health, but I’m just letting you know that I don’t support your stance”. And the fact that they had to clarify that just made me wonder why (they are) even trying to clarify or make that distinction, like, “hey, I’m not here because I support your stance, I’m just checking in on your mental health”.
So it felt, again, very isolating. when, push came to shove, it seemed like most of the caucus, in fact, all of them were just too afraid to risk their careers, and they didn’t want to come out and say anything publicly without the ticks of approval from the leadership.
And that tells you everything you need to know about the culture in major parties. There really isn’t any level of agency, autonomy, or truly being a voice for your communities. It’s putting party politics above all. And, when you have to compromise your own values, then what’s the whole point of you trying to be a leader, and a representative when you can’t even speak your mind or speak your truth?
A: How have your interactions been with the prime minister, both before you left the Labor Party and afterwards, when you become, say, involved in negotiations?
FP: So I guess before I left, there was this keen effort to manage me, to keep me in line, to make sure that I didn’t become too independent in expressing my opinions. I think once I crossed the floor, obviously that dynamic desperately and dramatically just changed. It was clear that I was now seen as an inconvenience.
Therefore I was banished to indefinite purgatory until I made up a decision of either staying within the tent and toeing a line or giving my seat back to Labor. I chose the third option, which was to leave the Labor Party and go off on my own.
Currently in Senate negotiations: since July 2024, I’ve been requesting for the additional staff that every senator is entitled to, but that’s at the discretion of the prime minister. So because he doesn’t deem me worthy or he’s playing these petty politics games, he hasn’t given me my staff, which means that I’m constantly under the pump [due to] the amount of legislation that comes onto my desk every sitting week.
And it’s just me and two other staffers, and we need to get across stakeholder engagement, chatting with different industry groups, having meetings with various other stakeholders and community groups and advocacy groups to understand where people’s positions are after we’ve gone through hundreds of pages of legislation. Sometimes we don’t even get enough time and notice to actually go through the list of amendments that are often presented and then make a decision of how I’m going to vote and to put and justify my case.
The government has not engaged with me in negotiations (until) the last day of the November sitting. And that’s because the Pauline Hanson stunt took place, where she was questioning my legitimacy as an Australian senator representing WA and Senator Thorpe spoke out and protested. And so she ripped a piece of paper, threw it at Pauline, and therefore was suspended. Because (now that) the government needed my vote, to push a 40-bill guillotine motion, which meant that those 40 bills would be put to a vote without debate, without any discussions. So that’s the only time the prime minister himself asked me to come into his office.
I’ve maintained a very professional, adult way of dealing with the whole situation, but there seems to be a lot of pettiness from the other side. and the government didn’t agree to my deal of getting rid of the three immigration amendment bills that were absolutely horrendous and barbaric and just draconian, deporting genuine refugees to a third country where their human rights and freedoms would not be respected or upheld.
So it was just one of those things where, again, the Labor Party is straying away from its own party platform. They are no longer listening to their rank-and-file members and their union members and all their supporters out there. so the government didn’t take the deal and I said, okay, well, then no deal for me.
I’m not going to let the government just have things their way without proper negotiations, and yeah, it was a patronising conversation where the PM didn’t even look at me. So again, we need to put petty games aside. Australians don’t have time for that. Politicians as representatives don’t have time for that.
We need to move on with the job. We need to have immediate relief when it comes to the rising cost of living pressures, housing affordability, to ensure that Australia adopts a more independent foreign policy. We can’t just keep turning a blind eye and playing these games, because Australians are just seeing right through it and they’re sick and tired of it.
A: What’s your message to the Muslim constituents in seats with Labor MPs?
FP: So to those constituents, my message to them is vote with your conscience. Don’t just settle for politicians who remember you (only) when elections are around the corner, but then disappear when it’s time to take a stand, when you demand solid action from them. And speaking of action, don’t just listen to the empty words; look at their voting records; look at how they acted and what actions they took when it mattered most.
I think having independents running in the lower house and obviously in the Senate, with Australia’s Voice, constituents can no longer say that we were forced to choose the lesser of two evils. You have the options, you have the opportunity, you have the power. Utilise it, because if those same MPs, whether they’re Labor or whatever, have not listened to you, if they haven’t fought for you and if you haven’t seen any level of commitment or action from them, then you know that they won’t fight for you after the election. Don’t be fooled by the amount of money that gets splashed around the community. Don’t feel obliged because, they’re coming out with chequebooks that you must now, you only vote for them.
Because there’s this perception within the major parties, in particular within the Labor Party, that the Muslim or Arab constituency or the multicultural constituency, they forgive and forget. So that’s what they tell themselves to justify the lack of action that they were taking during the genocide that was livestreamed on our phones. Like, I want people to understand that if you’re an MP you did not take action when it mattered most. What guarantee do you have that they will take action after they’ve been re-elected?
So I straight up tell people that you cannot complain about not having options anymore. You can’t turn a blind eye and say, “well, I didn’t know” because it’s all out there. It’s just about whether people have the appetite and the courage to vote with their conscience.
A: How is your standing with the union community?
FP: Yes. absolutely. once a unionist, always a unionist. I still stand firm with workers and the union movement. Some union leaders in WA have been quite supportive. Because they understand that my commitment to fighting for workers’ rights hasn’t changed. There are others, particularly those who have very close ties with the Labor Party, who have kept their distance.
But, it’s important to highlight that unionism isn’t about party loyalty or party affiliation. Unionism has always been and always will be about fighting for fair wages, fighting for safer workplaces, for job security, to ensure that people understand their rights and are able to have the tools and are equipped to be able to take on that fight and that’s exactly what I continue to do.
Perhaps while I was in the Labor Party, I was very confined within the factionalism of different unions, thinking you only deal with the factions that you fall within. So I was in the left faction and it was like, you know, you don’t think about the factions or the unions who represent the right faction.
Right now, there is nothing to do with, you know, party politics and factionalism. For me, a worker is a worker and their rights need to be protected.
A: You have a lot of support in the eastern states, definitely Victoria and NSW, even the ACT. Would you consider moving to one these states in the future?
FP: I’m so humbled. and honestly, everyone’s been so welcoming every time I travel to the eastern states. and as much as there is so much love and respect from everyone out there on the East coast, my home is WA and that’s where my fight is. People in various conversations have raised the idea of moving to the East, but I remind myself that my commitment is to the people who elected me.
And I’ll always be here for WA, and I know that Australia’s Voice is a national movement. And, you know, Inshallah, we may get people elected in Victoria or New South Wales, Queensland, wherever. It’s really important for me to ensure that the movement is national. My commitment, of course, is to WA, being a West Australian senator and I don’t know if I could trade the beach sunsets, moving over to the east. I’m more of a sunset gal.
A: Thank you very much. Wish you all the best.
FP: Inshallah. You very much.
Republished from AMUST, March 21, 2025