Anthony Albanese and rebel senator Fatima Payman are locked in a he-said, she said over at what point she made her decision to leave the Labor Party.
As the dust settles on Senator Payman’s defection to the crossbench, she maintained her decisions, dating back to when she crossed the floor to support the Greens’ motion on Palestinian statehood, were made “purely based” on conscience.
Speaking to media for the first time since the explosive announcement, the Prime Minister continued to denies this, calling on the first-term representative to “be upfront about it”.
“People will draw their own (conclusion) but people should be upfront about their actions and should be accountable and responsible (for them),” he told reporters on Friday.
He also said it was “dissapointing” Senator Payman had not previously made comments about Palestine during party room meetings.
“At no stage, no stage, did Senator Payman stand in the caucus and make any comments about the Middle East or about anything else,” he said.
Confirming he had not spoken to Senator Payman since she quit, he described her announcement as the “worst kept secret in Parliament House”.
Mr Albanese said her actions had been calculated, including her 2pm press conference that coincided with question time, and her interview with David Speers on ABC’s Insiders.
“She wasn’t walking past the inside the studio, and Dave Spears didn’t yell out: ‘Hey Fatima, how about you come here and have a chat’?” he said.
“The budget week statements, the opinion piece that was put in the lead-up to the crossing of the floor.
“People can draw their own conclusions. I have mine.”
He also reiterated comments the first-term politician was only elected to her senator position because of the Labor Party.
“She’s made a decision,” he told reporters.
“Fatima Payman received around about 1600 votes in the WA election. The ALP box above the line received 511,000 votes.
“It’s very clear that Fatima Payman is in the Senate because people in WA wanted to elect a Labor government and that’s why they put a number 1 in the box above the line next to Australian Labor Party rather than voted below the line for any individual.”
Mr Albanese’s timeline of events appears to differ from what has been put forward by the rebel senator.
She said she had been given an ultimatum by the Prime Minister on the Sunday, five days before she quit, to either “toe the party line and come back inside the tent or give the position back to the Labor Party”.
Despite Mr Albanese hinting she would quit on Wednesday, Senator Payman said she had been surprised by his comments.
That made me realise: ‘Oh, I’m expected to make a decision sooner than later’,” she told ABC Radio National on Friday.
“And that’s when I had to really think through and make the decision and resign yesterday.”