Payman says new party Australia’s Voice will be ‘for the disenfranchised and the unheard’
Fatima Payman is announcing her new political party.
The WA senator left the Labor party after a disagreement with Labor’s position on Gaza.
She has named the party Australia’s Voice.
[So many have felt] a growing frustration, a feeling of being left behind. Of shouting into the void. Only for their concerns to fall on deaf ears. So many of you have told me with emotions in your hearts, we need something different. We need a voice. It is this cry for change that has brought us here today. Because we can no longer sit by while our voices are drowned out by the same old politics.
It’s time to stand up, to rise together and to take control of our future. And so it is with great humility and deep responsibility that I announce the formation of Australia’s Voice, a new political party for the disenfranchised, the unheard, and those yearning for real change.
Key events
Over in the Senate, the focus is on the nature-positive laws the government is trying to get support for (the Greens are not a fan).
It’s the same answer we heard in yesterday’s QT in the house.
NBN should be sold off when ‘time is right’, Liberal MP says
The Senate is busy being the Senate, so we are just taking a look at Liberal MP Zoe McKenzie’s interview with Sky News.
Q: Would you sell it [NBN] off? Was that your plan?
McKenzie:
To be fair, I’ve never heard that that’s our plan, but it has been in the public debate, the public discussion, that eventually it would be privatised. Remember? It’s interesting to me, you do know that the NBN just paid back the last tranche of public loan money it had to the commonwealth. There was about 5bn paid, I think, on the 30th of June of this year. So now the NBN has technically paid back the commonwealth for the loan it gave of some $20bn. Now all of a sudden it’s urgent that it be in public hands. I don’t get it. It’s like, thanks for the cash, but I want to keep the title –
Q: So you’d be relaxed with it being privatised?
McKenzie:
It has always been in the contemplation that it would be privatised when the time is right.
Q: So you think it should be?
McKenzie:
Eventually, when the time is right, but that’s not now.
The Senate question time is just about to begin and because we have had already brunch QT, we will be covering as much of Senate QT as we can stomach.
We are just about to head into Senate question time, but here is the question time exchange between Tony Burke and Dan Tehan that we covered earlier in the blog:
Andrew Messenger
On the campaign trail in Queensland
On the Queensland election trail, both major parties spent the day making announcements on their respective core issue: youth crime for the LNP and health for Labor.
In Townsville, the LNP promised a new $40m “victims’ advocate service”, spruiked as a “one-stop shop” for victims of crime. Their leader, David Crisafulli:
It’ll give people updates of the court proceedings. It’ll give continuity of advice so they don’t have to retell their story every time to someone different in a different part of government.
It’ll help with financial support, and often we speak to victims who fall between the cracks during a difficult period of time … and probably above all else, it will connect them with those service providers who do great work in this space.
In Brisbane, the premier, Steven Miles, told journalists “we already have one”, pointing to the victims’ commissioner set up under Labor.
The Labor leader was in the nation’s capital to announce a backflip on payroll tax for GP clinics. The party will now abandon a plan to help clinics transition to new financial arrangements to evade the tax.
The new approach is the same as the LNP – to pass a new legal exemption.
Miles said the reversal was necessary “because of the LNP’s successful misinformation campaign, they were unfortunately successful at convincing GPS that some kind of new tax was coming and that that would affect them and their patients. We want to allay that fear, and we will do so by legislating specifically”.
Daniel Hurst
Ramos-Horta says ideal world is one of ‘peace and cooperation’
José Ramos-Horta continued his National Press Club answer by saying Timor-Leste did not discuss “high-stakes security issues with the Chinese”.
He said that when he visited China the issue he wanted to discuss most was agriculture and “how China can replicate in Timor-Leste the Chinese miracle of eliminating poverty, increasing food production”. Ramos-Horta said the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, “responded very well” to that policy discussion.
Ramos-Horta acknowledged that there were “sensitive issues in the South China Sea”. He said his vision “ideally, in a romantic world, would be a sea of peace and cooperation”. He also believed that disputes in the South China Sea “should be discussed bilaterally between the claimant states”. Ramos-Horta added:
To say that, ‘oh, this is not acceptable because China would put so much pressure on each country,’that they are smaller, weaker’ – that is patronising to these countries. They may be small, but they have an incredible sense of sovereignty, of pride, and the more pressure you put on them, the more they resist. So it’s total nonsense, these arguments.
Ramos-Horta said Timor-Leste currently had an Australian, Portuguese and US military presence. He attracted more laugher with this line:
Imagine if we had one or two Chinese military personnel there. No one would sleep in peace in Australia!
Daniel Hurst
Timor-Leste president José Ramos-Horta speaks at National Press Club
The president of Timor-Leste, José Ramos-Horta, has joked that if Australian intelligence services continued to spy on his country’s political leaders “they would find it very boring”. He told the National Press Club in Canberra that such snooping would only reveal politicians bad-mouthing each other.
His comments are an oblique reference to a 2004 scandal when Australian spies bugged Timor-Leste’s cabinet room during sensitive negotiations over access to oil and gas reserves.
When asked for his perspective about China’s position in the region and whether he was “leveraging China against Australia at the moment” in regard to the development of the Greater Sunrise project, Ramos-Horta began by suggesting that Australian newspapers sought to increase their sales by focusing on China “in a negative way”.
Ramos-Horta said he believed that “Australian intelligence, Australian military people and the politicians who are really, really informed and educated … would know that China is not in any shape or form or imagination a threat to Australia”, adding:
It is an economic trade rival. Yes. China steals technology. Who doesn’t steal technology?
Ramos-Horta recalled a conversation with a British ambassador when they were both in West Africa:
Then there was the issue of espionage, Australians spying on Timor government, and the ambassador, with a British sense of humour, he said, ‘God, if because of bugging phones people cut [diplomatic] relations, the US wouldn’t have relations with anybody, because they bug everybody’s phone around the world.’
And if, at all, the Australian intelligence continued to bug our phones – or the Chinese – they would find it very boring, very tedious, because the only thing you end up finding out is Timorese politicians and leaders bad-mouth each other all the time.
The comment attracted laughter from the National Press Club audience.
Rowland holds press conference on gambling and NBN
Michelle Rowland has also held a (belated) press conference (the first one was cancelled because it clashed with Fatima Payman’s presser) about the legislation to keep the NBN in public hands.
There is an argument that this legislation is fixing to address a problem that doesn’t exist – no one is proposing to sell the NBN. So you could say that this is something the government has created so it has something to talk about.
But on the flip side, there is also the point that we are very late in the electoral cycle and if you wanted to do something, well now is the time to do it.
The Rowland presser though, was mostly focused on the gambling reforms and when that response was coming.
Rowland told Josh Butler:
We’ll work with the states and territories on how to do it effectively, we will be taking advice from the department and from the regulator on the best way in which to achieve that.”
But there was no real answer beyond that – a timeless statement.
Labor reintroduces Help to Buy legislation in the House of Representatives
Over in the House, Clare O’Neil has reintroduced the shared equity scheme Help to Buy (mark II) as part of the government’s broader aim to have the focus shift back to domestic issues.
Help to Buy (Consequential Provisions) Bill 2023 [No. 2] is now in the parliament. May Dolly have mercy on it.
Gerard Rennick to announce People First party’s monetary policy today
It is a day of new political parties. Gerard Rennick has announced he will be unveiling his new political party’s policy on monetary/capital markets policy very soon. That’s the People First party, if you missed that news.
Amy Remeikis
Fatima Payman: a new breed of politician?
Fatima Payman certainly knows how to attract a crowd in this place.
Payman is also part of a new breed of politicians who don’t mind calling out questions they think go beyond respectability at press conferences. Kamala Harris made recent comments about seeing young women immediately calling out questions and behaviour they disagreed with and how it was one of the things she admired most about younger generations.
Payman has at least another five years in the Senate – might be something reporters have to get used to.
Payman says Australia’s Voice party is not about ‘whether you sit on the left or right’
Asked where Australia’s Voice sits within the Overton window, Fatima Payman says:
The ideological spectrum of whether you sit on the left or right, this is not what we’re talking about here. This is a party for all Australians. We’re going to ensure that everyone is represented, whether it’s the mums and dads who are trying to make and make ends meet, or the young students out there, or whether it’s the grandparents who want to have, you know, dignity and respect as they age.
Q: That’s a pretty broad group with lots of different interests. How do you make sure that all these different competing interests are represented?
Payman:
Isn’t that beautiful? That Australia, being one of the most multicultural, mature democracies in our world, we’re able to represent people of all walks of life … and that’s what Australia’s voice is going to do. It’s not going to be an easy task. I appreciate that, but we need to capture everyone’s concerns and make sure that they’ve got a voice here in Canberra.
Payman promises future MPs a conscience vote on every matter
Fatima Payman says she has not had conversations with any other crossbenchers about joining her party and will be considering all options.
As to what would happen if there was a disagreement with any future MP, Payman says:
As a person of principle, as somebody who voted on her conscience, we will definitely have a conscience vote. And I will support anyone else’s, should Australia’s Voice have a member elected. We will ensure that they have the opportunity to exercise a conscience vote. We’re a beautiful democracy, and we should exercise on every matter a conscience vote on every matter.
Well, on matters that are important, obviously, you know, as a party we would have value alignment. But at the same time, that’s something that even if I disagree with them on, it would be important to appreciate that.
Payman says she admires Greens but Voice party will be more practical and pragmatic
You can find the website for Fatima Payman’s party here
The senator is asked about the party name – Australia’s Voice – and whether it is related to the voice referendum. She is also asked what will make it different to the Greens:
Payman says:
In regards to what makes us different from the Greens, well, I admire the Greens for their passion. But I’ve heard from Australians that they think sometimes the Greens go way too far. And that, you know, when it comes to practicality or pragmatism, there needs to be that level of engagement with what’s possible and what can be achieved.
And in regards to the name, Australia’s Voice, we’ve consulted with First Nations people. We’ve consulted with elders from that community who actually feel like the current government is not representing them, and they are being treated as electoral poison.
Any form of Indigenous issues is being treated as electoral poison when it comes to the government and I’ve heard first-hand from First Nations elders that, you know, they didn’t realise and would never have fathomed that they would be far worse off post a failed referendum and that was a constitutional matter.
But what we’re proposing and perhaps even asking for it to be considered, is maybe there is an opportunity to have that level of engagement with First Nations elders throughout, through our parliamentary processes.
Payman says no decision on whether to run candidate in PM’s seat
Fatima Payman says Australia’s Voice may run a candidate in Anthony Albanese’s seat, but has not made any decisions.
In terms of the target seats, we have not had those decisions yet. But, you know, the prime minister challenged me the other day, so we might consider that maybe.
Maybe not.
Payman says ‘not ruling out anyone’ in terms of candidates
Q: What kind of backgrounds are you looking for? We have heard in the past interest from some Muslim groups to engage with you. Will you be hoping to recruit some people from Muslim backgrounds to run as part of your party?
Fatima Payman:
The candidate selection will occur in due course … it will be based on merit and value alignment when it comes to selecting those candidates. We are not ruling out anyone again. Australia’s voice is for each and every person, and we welcome candidates.
And to just add to that, we’ve already received so much interest from disenfranchised Labor candidates, former Labor candidates. We’ve had people from the National party reach out and express interest. So there’s already a growing number of people putting their hand up.
Payman says Voice party’s policy platform will come ‘in due course’
What will Australia’s Voice be focused on, in terms of issues?
Fatima Payman:
We’re obviously launching the party today. The policy platform will come in time, and I’m very excited to publicly announce them in due course.
All you have to do is look back at a few of my speeches since becoming an independent, whether that’s negative gearing and capital gains tax in terms of housing affordability, or whether it’s looking at our aged care reform bills or whether it’s looking at early childhood education, making sure that parents and families are able to put food on the table while ensuring their kids get a good education.
So there’s lots to look at. But obviously we will be announcing it in due course.
