Australian lawmaker suspended from party caucus for backing motion to recognize Palestine
Australian senator Fatima Payman from the ruling Labor Party has been “indefinitely suspended” from the party caucus.
This was after she backed a motion to recognize Palestine as a state.
Payman had been suspended after a conversation with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the official residence Lodge, she told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
The motion was moved in the Senate by lawmaker Mehreen Faruqi, deputy leader of the Australian Greens party.
A young senator from Western Australia, Payman crossed the floor and supported the motion which was blocked by the Labor-led government.
It is the first time a Labor politician has crossed the floor since 1986 to support any motion while the party was in power.