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A Labor senator who accused Israel of carrying out genocide on the Palestinian people has resigned from her position on two parliamentary foreign affairs committees.
Fatima Payman broke ranks from her party earlier this month, calling on her own government to sanction and cease trade with Israel.
Senator Payman called on her colleagues, including the prime minister, to “stand for what is right” and said that her conscience had been “uneasy for far too long”.
“This is a genocide, and we need to stop pretending otherwise,” the senator said.
Her comments were described as “inappropriate” by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
A government spokesperson has today confirmed the first-term senator from Western Australia has resigned from her position on two committees.
“Senator Payman has resigned from the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade and the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee,” the spokesperson said.
“The government’s policy is clear – we support a two-state solution.”
In recent days, Senator Payman had again reiterated her calls on social media, following Israeli air strikes on the city of Rafah.
“We must demand an end to this genocide, stop all trade, divest and recognise a Palestinian state,” she said on X.
Government frontbencher Bill Shorten suggested earlier this month he would step down from the foreign affairs committee if he held the same view as his Labor colleague.
“If I was on it and I had that much disagreement I probably would decide to make a contribution in some other way,” he said.
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