Payman faces Senate criticism over staff request and attack remark
Independent senator Fatima Payman drew criticism in the Senate after asking whether Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was waiting for an attack on her or her office before approving her request for extra staff. She was questioning Special Minister of State Don Farrell about a bid she says has gone unresolved for almost two years, and suggested she might be treated differently because she left the Labor Party.
Payman says her staff are struggling to manage work comparable to that of a larger office, and accused Albanese of delaying the decision out of pettiness. Farrell called her reference to an attack on fellow MP Helen Haines outrageous and said he would raise the staffing request with the Prime Minister again; committee chair Karen Grogan also challenged Payman and urged her to withdraw the remark. The exchange came amid reported threats against Payman, including more than 100 incidents her office says it referred to Australian Federal Police.
In short
- Payman questioned whether an attack would prompt action on her staffing request.
- She says she has sought two extra advisers for almost two years.
- Farrell said he would raise the request with Albanese again.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Fatima Payman sparks fury with ‘outrageous’ question about whether Albo is waiting for her to suffer a Helen Haines-style attack before giving her extra staff”.