Australian politician suspended for supporting Palestinian state

Australian ruling Labor Party Senator Fatima Payman said Monday that the prime minister's decision to indefinitely suspend her from the party’s caucus had left her in "exile.”

Payman, who faced suspension after supporting a motion in parliament to recognize a Palestinian state, said she had lost all contact with her caucus colleagues, SBS News reported.

She said she was excluded from caucus meetings, committees, internal caucus chats and whip bulletins. She has been instructed to avoid all parliamentary duties requiring a vote, including divisions, motions and matters of public interest.

Payman said she believed some members were trying to intimidate her into resigning from the Senate. She said she decided to abstain from voting in the Senate for the rest of the week unless a "matter of conscience" arose.

Labor factions would hold meetings on Monday ahead of Tuesday's caucus meeting, where harsher punishments, including Payman's possible expulsion, could be discussed, according to local media reports,

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said last Wednesday that the ruling party had suspended Payman for supporting a motion in parliament to recognise a Palestinian state.

On Monday, Albanese said Payman had "undermined" the collective position of the Labor Party. This followed her interview on Sunday in which Payman vowed to continue crossing the floor of parliament in support of Palestinian statehood.