A series of social media posts from Fatima Payman’s secret accounts – and those of her family – have shed light on the controversial senator’s views, as Anthony Albanese launches his most bitter attack on the Labor defector yet.
Private posts supplied to Daily Mail show how Ms Payman went from an earnest uni student who ran the University of Western Muslim Students Association to a senator in just four years.
Posts uploaded to the 29-year-old politician’s non-public facing social media pages are littered with inspirational quotes about leadership, being yourself and carpe diem – seizing the day.
But another controversial post – where a family member calls Israel a terrorist organisation – also shows what pressures she may have been under to push for action on the war in Gaza.
The newly-independent Western n senator announced her resignation during a press conference in Parliament House on Thursday, citing unresolvable tensions within the Labor Party.
She accused Labor of failing take a stance on the situation between Israel and Palestine, and the 38,000 people killed in Gaza since the situation escalated following a surprise attack by extremist group Hamas last year.
‘With a heavy heart, but a clear conscience, I have announced my resignation from the n Labor Party,’ she said.
‘My family did not flee from a war-torn country to come here as refugees for me to remain silent when I see atrocities inflicted on innocent people.’
Three of the private posts seen by Daily Mail were inspirational quotes.
One quote was by Poor Things actress Emma Stone, who said: ‘I can’t think of any better representation of beauty than someone who is unafraid to be herself.’
Featured on another account was the popular Latin phrase carpe diem, which is roughly translated to ‘seize the day’.
Another was a quote by author Tom Peters, who said: ‘Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders.’
However, another post uploaded on her cousin’s Facebook page featured the Star of David with a large black cross through it. It read: ‘Israel is not a nation but a criminal terrorist organisation.’
There is no suggestion Ms Payman shares that view. Daily Mail has contacted her for comment.
Ms Payman’s family were refugees who fled to Pakistan from Taliban-held Afghanistan, before they joined other family members in Perth when she was about eight-years-old in 2003.
Senator Payman is pictured walking to her press conference on Thursday afternoon
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Friday blasted Senator Payman’s decision to leave Labor and warned parties against going ‘down the road of faith-based political parties’ because it undermines social cohesion.
On Thursday, the senator was forced to rubbish suggestions that she would join a grassroots Muslim group, telling journalists she had also met with the Jewish Council of and Christian groups.
Mr Albanese said: ‘My party has around the cabinet and ministerial tables, people who are Catholic, people who are Uniting Church, people who are Muslim, people who are Jewish.’
‘That is the way that we’ve conducted politics in , that’s the way you bring cohesion.
‘And it seems to me as well beyond obvious that it is not in the interests of smaller minority groups to isolate themselves, which is what a faith-based party system would do.’
He then took aim at her 1600 votes in the WA election whereas the ALP received 511,000 votes above the line, which meant the state voted for the party rather than for Senator Payman.
‘It’s very clear that Fatima Payman is in the Senate because people in WA wanted to elect a Labor government,’ he said.
‘That’s why they put a number one in the box above the line next to n Labor Party rather than vote below the line for any individual.’
Mr Albanese added that he was disappointed with her decision to leave and maintained she did not raise issues about the Middle East or ‘anything else about Western ‘ to caucus before she defected.
Ms Payman was elected to a six-year term in 2022 during sweeping Labor victories in Western . She will serve the remaining four years as an independent.
Mr Albanese had reportedly privately told Ms Payman that she was elected using Labor’s platform, and that she should quit the Senate entirely so that the government could reappoint someone from within to the Senate position.
It comes after her husband Jacob Stokes’ tweets surfaced from earlier this year where he said: ‘I think the worst thing to happen would be for her to resign.
‘Making government shift its foreign policy position does not happen overnight.
‘She needs to work her way up, and be there to recruit more Muslims into the party and into Government.
‘THAT’s how we get representation.’ Mr Stokes’s profile has now been set to private after his tweets were published. He is reportedly associated with WA state Labor.’
It then emerged that her husband works for the WA state Labor government and ran her election campaign in 2022. It is unclear as to whether he will keep his role in state politics.
Mr Albanese indicated in Question Time this week that he believes Ms Payman had been strategising her exit from the party for a month.
She told the ABC that is not the case, and reportedly said she believes the party has said that because they are upset with her.
Prior to her resignation, Ms Payman had not been seen in the Senate since Monday – after announcing she would abstain from voting on any matters except for ‘matters of conscience’.
‘I have been exiled,’ she said at the time.
‘I have lost all contact with my caucus colleagues. I have been removed from caucus meetings, committees, internal group chats and whips bulletins.
‘These actions lead me to believe that some members are attempting to intimidate me into resigning from the Senate.’