'Our actions must align with our principles': Australian senator quits ruling party over Palestine

By Serdar Dincel and Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) - Australian Senator Fatima Payman Thursday quit the ruling Labor Party, calling on the government to match its words with actions.

"Our actions must align with our principles," Payman said, who was suspended by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese from parliamentary work after she supported a motion to recognize Palestine as an independent state.

Opposition Greens Party had moved the motion last month, the second since May. Both were voted down.

"When history looks back, it must see that we stood on the side of humanity, even when it was difficult," she said in a statement.

Some 145 nations recognize Palestine as an independent state, with several European nations joining the growing number of UN member states amid the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza.

Payman said she had lost “all contact with her caucus colleagues.”

Stressing that she does not believe her principles "align with those of the leadership of the Labor Party," Payman added: "I announce my resignation from the Australian Labor Party."

- 'Intimidation by Labor party'

Payman will now sit as an independent, requiring the government to secure an extra vote in the Senate to pass legislation if it is not backed by the opposition.

“The ongoing genocide in Gaza is a tragedy of unimaginable proportions. It is a crisis that pierces the heart and soul, calling us to action with a sense of urgency and moral clarity," she said, and noted: "Witnessing our government's indifference to the greatest injustice of our times makes me question the direction the Party is taking."

But, Payman also revealed that the Labor Party was pressuring her to “conform to caucus solidarity and toeing the line.”

“I see no middle ground and my conscience leaves me no choice," she added.

Payman told ABC News that she experienced "intimidation ... on many fronts."

In broadside at Albanese over summoning her to his residence last Sunday, Payman said: "I purely remember being given that option of you either stay and you toe the party line, or you give up the position because you don't believe in caucus solidarity."

Albanese has said he "had not" been intimidatory toward Payman.

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas.

Nearly 38,000 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and around 87,300 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Over eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.