Most people think the story of now-independent Senator Fatima Payman’s break away from the Labor Party began in the last two weeks… but really, this has been unfolding for more than a month. And I don’t mean that Payman has been “plotting” to leave Labor for a month, as is being claimed by the unsubstantiated Labor Party rumour spread by the media. I mean that Labor has been hanging Payman out to dry for at least a month. At the end of May, Payman was bullied in the Senate chamber (her place of work) by Liberal Hollie Hughes and, as I wrote at the time, no one from the ALP defended or stood up for her. If Payman had been re-considering her position in the party since then, I don’t blame her. 

The treatment of Senator Payman – a visibly Muslim woman – by the Labor Party, the Coalition and the media has been disgusting. She has been subject to some of the most blatantly racist and Islamophobic media coverage I’ve seen since Yasmin Abdel-Mageid was literally hounded out of the country in 2017. But I’m not going to dissect this racist coverage right now… Frankly, the bad takes are still being published as I type, so as is the Zee Feed way, we’re going to wait until we can paint the picture in full, clear detail. 

For now, I want to point to two threads of silver lining that exist within this story. 

The first is how generally supportive the Australian public has been over Senator Payman’s decision to cross the floor. On Payman’s social media posts about her decision to first cross the floor, her suspension, and her departure from the party the comments are overwhelmingly supportive; on the ALP’s posts, people are expressing their anger and disappointment at how the party has treated Payman. According to AAP reporting, she was greeted at Perth Airport with a cheering crowd on Saturday, returning home for the Parliament winter break.

Payman says she has the support of rank and file party members (the everyday people who are members of the Labor party, not the elected politicians). And I wholeheartedly believe that she does, because recognition of Palestine is official Labor policy that is supported by Labor voters and Australian unions (which is where the party originates). 

I cannot stress this point enough: recognition of Palestine is Labor party policy. Payman did not betray the party by crossing the floor, she went against the caucus. The only people who seem outraged by this are brain-rotted ALP loyalists (mostly on Twitter), pockets of outright racists (also on Twitter), and the conservative political and media elites (unfortunately, not limited to Twitter). 

What I’m seeing is that the general public view of Payman is she’s done her job well by actually representing the beliefs of voters. People are intensely disappointed that the ALP is failing the values it promised it would govern by. They are not buying the media’s line that Payman is some kind of trojan horse trying to destroy the Australian government from within.

That’s progress! Small as it may be, it’s something to hold on to. 

The second silver lining is the leverage this gives voters. Payman has given us a powerful, high profile example of what it looks like to actually do representative politics, rather than party politics. It’s clear that Labor and the Coalition are trying hard to delegitimize Payman so that we don’t ask why the rest of them aren’t delivering on that promise the way she is. Especially on Palestine.

If the polling data didn’t prove that Australians want the government to do more to help Palestinians, the general public support of Payman shows in no uncertain terms that this is a major issue for local voters. Labor now knows how seriously many people view this issue. And that they stand to lose seats, and therefore power, if they don’t change their approach.

To be clear, I’m not saying we should be grateful for scraps. There have been high costs paid, and terrible damage done by the media narrative on it all. But we can’t lose sight of hopeful signs and small opportunities to drive change. It all counts. 

– Crystal
Founder & Chief of Everything at Zee Feed
Follow me on Instagram or TikTok

Smart stuff on the Internet 💭

All the stuff I found on the web that made me think, smile, or have an ‘aha!’ moment. Spend your Sunday reading them – you'll be better off for it:

Skibidi Toilet: Exploring the Nuances of Gen Alpha's Favourite Meme w/ Aidan Walker on Infinite Scroll podcast
“Skibidi toilet addresses conflict in a way that most children’s media doesnt.” This is an incredible conversation with meme scholar Aidan Walker that unpacks the surprisingly deep meaning behind the Skibidi Toilet series. Instead of trying to kick Gen Alpha off social media, we’d be better off understanding what they are consuming and why. 1000/10 recommend.

Which one of you told Lorde she walked like a bitch? on The Spinoff
The fun, light read we all need right now. “Somewhere out there exists the person who told Lorde she walked like a bitch when she was 10. As someone once nominated for best crime and justice journalism at the Voyager Media Awards (didn’t win), I had a professional and moral obligation to unearth the truth.”

This Election Must Be the Last One With Our Absurd Voting System on Novara Media
Helpful for understanding the U.K. election results – absolutely not a win for Labour, but a complete rejection of the Conservative party. Some lessons for the U.S. and Australia here too. “Across the UK, one in five people say they are voting ‘tactically’ to defeat the Tories. In other words, a fifth of the electorate feels forced to support someone other than their preferred candidate in order to get rid of someone they like even less. But I suspect the real number is bigger than that, because first-past-the-post shapes everything about how we do elections.”

We Have All Become Travel Influencers. It’s Ruining the Planet on TIME
“The making and sharing of these kinds of images again, and again, and again perpetuates the sense that tourists have the right to ‘consume’ a destination. Smith says that, while many of us have become sensitive to the colonial overtones of travel writing from the 20th century and earlier, we now need to bring the same scrutiny to what we see—and what we produce—on social media.”

If you found this email thought-provoking, will you share it with a friend? Sharing helps us grow 🌱 and makes you look really smart.