1 00:00:06,120 --> 00:00:08,520 Speaker 1: You can listen to the Front on your smart sneaker 2 00:00:08,640 --> 00:00:12,760 Speaker 1: every morning to hear the latest episode. Just say play 3 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:23,040 Speaker 1: the news from The Australian. From the Australian, Here's what's 4 00:00:23,079 --> 00:00:26,480 Speaker 1: on the Front. I'm Claire Harvey. It's Thursday, June twenty seven. 5 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:34,120 Speaker 1: Buckle in for another rate rise. Inflation has gone up 6 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:37,000 Speaker 1: to four percent for the year to May, despite all 7 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:41,120 Speaker 1: the government's efforts to keep prices under control. So what's 8 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:45,199 Speaker 1: driving this power bills, petrol prices and rents. You can 9 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:48,200 Speaker 1: read our experts analysis on what it means for your 10 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:51,920 Speaker 1: household right now at the Australian dot com dot au. 11 00:00:55,960 --> 00:01:00,480 Speaker 1: Leading Jewish organizations say Sydney University is no longer for 12 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:04,840 Speaker 1: Jewish students and staff. An exclusive story in The Australian 13 00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:09,000 Speaker 1: Today says they're offering assistance to any Jewish students who 14 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:17,720 Speaker 1: want to leave. She's a twenty nine year old Afghanistan 15 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:23,360 Speaker 1: born former pharmacy assistant and she's gone rogue. Senator Fatima 16 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:26,600 Speaker 1: Payman has broken ranks with the Labor Party that put 17 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:29,920 Speaker 1: her in power, defying Anthony Albanesi to vote with the 18 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:35,240 Speaker 1: Greens on Palestinian statehood. Today, our national editor Dennis Shanahan 19 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:45,800 Speaker 1: on why this is a serious challenge to Anthony Albanesi's authority. 20 00:01:55,720 --> 00:01:58,880 Speaker 2: She's the first Labor senator to cross the Senate floor 21 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:00,480 Speaker 2: in more than three deses. 22 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:04,600 Speaker 1: Labor Senator Fatima payment made a daring decision to defy 23 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:07,800 Speaker 1: her party and across the floor. I believe that I 24 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:12,960 Speaker 1: have upheld the party ethos and called for what the 25 00:02:12,960 --> 00:02:15,480 Speaker 1: party's platform as stipulate. 26 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:17,960 Speaker 3: The promise has been done over by a twenty nine 27 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:20,400 Speaker 3: year old woman from Western Australia on his team. It's 28 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:21,239 Speaker 3: as simple as that. 29 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:25,680 Speaker 1: On Tuesday, a huge moment in federal politics about the 30 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:29,720 Speaker 1: biggest issue in foreign policy right now, the conflict in Gaza. 31 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:35,520 Speaker 1: Labor Senator Fatima Payman crossed the floor and voted against 32 00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:40,200 Speaker 1: her own party. It was a symbolic move. Payment voted 33 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:44,359 Speaker 1: with the Greens on one of their motions, formal recognition 34 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:47,800 Speaker 1: of the state of Palestine. The government's position is to 35 00:02:47,840 --> 00:02:52,440 Speaker 1: support recognition of Palestine only as part of negotiations towards 36 00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:57,359 Speaker 1: a two state solution that is Israel and Palestine coexisting. 37 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:00,919 Speaker 2: It's not about the policy issue in the Middle East. 38 00:03:01,400 --> 00:03:04,080 Speaker 1: Dennis Shanahan is the Australian's National Editor. 39 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:08,120 Speaker 2: This hasn't solved anything about the Middle East. It's a 40 00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:11,320 Speaker 2: bit like the Heckler's facing Jerry Seinfeld trying to stop 41 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:15,080 Speaker 2: Jewish comedians. It was a pointless vote, but as a 42 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:19,280 Speaker 2: result Senator Payman has sowned vision within the Labor Party, 43 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:23,520 Speaker 2: given a victory to Adam Bandt, and actually made it 44 00:03:23,720 --> 00:03:29,400 Speaker 2: harder for Labor MPs to oppose the violence and the 45 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:35,080 Speaker 2: protests as well as stand up for Jewish Australians. This 46 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:39,280 Speaker 2: is a precedent on an issue which is not a 47 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:43,760 Speaker 2: conscience vote and which opens all sorts of possibilities for 48 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:47,400 Speaker 2: the Greens to exploit and for Labor MPs to come 49 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:51,960 Speaker 2: under increasing pressure in their seats if they don't start 50 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:53,440 Speaker 2: to take similar action. 51 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:57,840 Speaker 1: What Dennis is talking about is an ironclad rule of 52 00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:02,680 Speaker 1: the Australian Labor Party decision made collectively by caucus, that 53 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:06,640 Speaker 1: is all the members of Parliament, and everyone towes the 54 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:08,200 Speaker 1: party line. 55 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:11,560 Speaker 2: What about Ed Husick in Western Sydney, with a large 56 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:15,760 Speaker 2: Moslem population and a Moslem himself, who I have to 57 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:20,240 Speaker 2: say has been absolutely straight down the line on this issue. 58 00:04:20,279 --> 00:04:24,880 Speaker 2: He has not been for promoted any sort of violence 59 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:30,120 Speaker 2: or protest. He has appealed for peaceful negotiation while standing 60 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:35,880 Speaker 2: up for Islamic Australians. But what we see now is 61 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:39,200 Speaker 2: if there's another vote, what does ed Husick do? And 62 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:43,000 Speaker 2: people can then point to Senator Payment and say, look ed, 63 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:45,640 Speaker 2: look what she did. Why can't you. 64 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:53,480 Speaker 1: Labor has been here before. In the mid nineteen nineties, 65 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:57,480 Speaker 1: when Labor was in opposition, one of its senators, Mal Colston, 66 00:04:57,839 --> 00:04:59,920 Speaker 1: had his eye on a new job in the set 67 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:03,640 Speaker 1: it as vice president. The promotion came with a pay 68 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:07,640 Speaker 1: bump of about ten thousand dollars and a few extra benefits. 69 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:13,920 Speaker 4: Senator Hill, Madam President, I remind the Senate at the 70 00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:16,080 Speaker 4: time has come when it is necessary for the Senate 71 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:18,560 Speaker 4: to choose one of its members to be deputy President 72 00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:20,200 Speaker 4: and chairman of committees. 73 00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:26,040 Speaker 1: Colston's own party didn't nominate him for the Senate vice presidency, 74 00:05:26,440 --> 00:05:29,560 Speaker 1: so the coalition swooped in they. 75 00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:32,680 Speaker 2: Would support him in the vote if he voted for himself, 76 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:37,360 Speaker 2: which he did, and so he voted against the Labor 77 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:42,160 Speaker 2: candidate for himself and became Vice President of the Senate. 78 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:47,279 Speaker 1: It was high drama in the Senate, Labor betrayed by 79 00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:48,120 Speaker 1: one of its own. 80 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:53,640 Speaker 2: The word of this government and its officeholders in this 81 00:05:53,839 --> 00:05:55,600 Speaker 2: place is worth nothing. 82 00:05:56,960 --> 00:05:58,440 Speaker 3: Is worth nothing is. 83 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:01,760 Speaker 2: Ye send it alive. 84 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:06,360 Speaker 1: But Colston's victory was short lived. 85 00:06:07,960 --> 00:06:11,080 Speaker 2: He was expelled from the party. He was called the 86 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:15,520 Speaker 2: king Rat. He was pilloried in Parliament and elsewhere. He 87 00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:19,440 Speaker 2: was completely excoriated by the Labor Party. And he was 88 00:06:19,480 --> 00:06:23,400 Speaker 2: the last one to be expelled for crossing the floor. 89 00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:28,240 Speaker 1: The point is Labour's long standing tradition is to expel 90 00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:31,680 Speaker 1: MPs who break the rules. And guess who's been the 91 00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:36,200 Speaker 1: most hardline practitioner of that tough standard. Anthony Alberonizi, a 92 00:06:36,279 --> 00:06:44,159 Speaker 1: longtime party operative from the left faction, famous for enforcing discipline. 93 00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:47,560 Speaker 1: Albanezi has a cameo in the classic nineteen ninety six 94 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:50,880 Speaker 1: documentary Rats in the Ranks, which is about the most 95 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:56,479 Speaker 1: brutal layer of politics local councils. Incumbent like Art Mayor 96 00:06:56,640 --> 00:07:00,000 Speaker 1: Larry Hand is battling it out with three rivals from 97 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:03,320 Speaker 1: his own Labor Party for the mayoralty in nineteen ninety four. 98 00:07:03,760 --> 00:07:07,880 Speaker 1: There's duplicity, dirty tricks and backstabbing all around. 99 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:10,440 Speaker 2: I've been bugger if I was gonna sit there and have 100 00:07:10,520 --> 00:07:14,440 Speaker 2: idle hit shot out to stab men number it's pretty pathetic. 101 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:19,640 Speaker 1: Early Labour sends head office enforcer, the young Anthony Albanesi, 102 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:23,640 Speaker 1: just sort things out. He suggests the warring wannabe mayor's 103 00:07:23,760 --> 00:07:25,320 Speaker 1: pull a name out of a hat. 104 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:32,400 Speaker 2: Oh yes, And Anthony Alberanesi was in that to his 105 00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:35,400 Speaker 2: arm pits, and he was there and at the end 106 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:38,640 Speaker 2: he tried to keep away from the camera because there's 107 00:07:38,640 --> 00:07:42,760 Speaker 2: a couple of shots. But what we've actually seen is 108 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:48,440 Speaker 2: that Anthony Alberanesi has a long history of expelling ALP 109 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:55,680 Speaker 2: members for as little as voting against his preferred mayoral 110 00:07:55,920 --> 00:08:01,480 Speaker 2: candidate in a local light Art council election. And what's more, 111 00:08:01,720 --> 00:08:06,280 Speaker 2: he boasted about it. So what we've actually seen is 112 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:11,080 Speaker 2: a repudiation of his own long history of taking action 113 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:16,440 Speaker 2: against ALP members who vote against the party, against members, 114 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:22,160 Speaker 2: and his own authority in calling for a balanced position 115 00:08:22,640 --> 00:08:29,080 Speaker 2: on Israel and Palestine, his own authority in condemning the Greens, 116 00:08:29,520 --> 00:08:34,200 Speaker 2: and the challenge he now faces not from a single senator. 117 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:37,920 Speaker 2: She is two years in the Senate. She doesn't represent 118 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:40,319 Speaker 2: any She got into the Senate with it with one 119 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:44,440 Speaker 2: nine hundred primary votes. She got there on the Labor ticket. 120 00:08:44,720 --> 00:08:47,800 Speaker 2: She owes the Labor Party for getting into the Senate, 121 00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:50,200 Speaker 2: for being where she is and being able to do 122 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:53,280 Speaker 2: what she can do. So is a question of loyalty 123 00:08:53,280 --> 00:08:56,880 Speaker 2: to the Labor Party. All that is being undermined by 124 00:08:56,880 --> 00:09:02,720 Speaker 2: what she's done, coming up. 125 00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:06,520 Speaker 1: The high personal price many Labour MPs have paid to 126 00:09:06,640 --> 00:09:10,160 Speaker 1: follow the party's rules. We'll be back after this break. 127 00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:20,160 Speaker 1: When she was elected to the Senate in two thousand 128 00:09:20,200 --> 00:09:25,360 Speaker 1: and one, Penny Wong became Australia's first openly gay cabinet minister. 129 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:30,600 Speaker 1: She and her partner Sophie Aloash are married with two daughters. 130 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:34,520 Speaker 1: It was the happiest ending to a long and complicated story. 131 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:39,240 Speaker 1: In those early days of Wong's career, Labour's position on 132 00:09:39,280 --> 00:09:42,720 Speaker 1: same sex marriage was crystal clear. Marriage is between a 133 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:46,120 Speaker 1: man and a woman. Wong spoke about it during an 134 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:49,880 Speaker 1: appearance on the ABC's Q and A program in twenty ten. 135 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:54,400 Speaker 1: Now I accept that you and some other people in 136 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:56,640 Speaker 1: the community would like us to have a different position 137 00:09:56,679 --> 00:09:57,760 Speaker 1: in terms of marriage. 138 00:09:57,920 --> 00:09:59,480 Speaker 4: That isn't the position of the party. 139 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:04,560 Speaker 1: That year, for a second time, Wong voted against changing 140 00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:08,960 Speaker 1: Labour's position on same sex marriage under Julia Gillard's leadership. 141 00:10:09,559 --> 00:10:12,720 Speaker 1: The first had been two years earlier when Kevin Rudd 142 00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:16,240 Speaker 1: was PM. Wong copped a lot of flak for those 143 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:19,240 Speaker 1: votes and for towing the party line despite being an 144 00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:22,800 Speaker 1: openly gay woman. On that same episode of Q and 145 00:10:22,880 --> 00:10:28,200 Speaker 1: a legendary Labor headkicker, Graham Richardson leapt to Wong's defense. 146 00:10:29,679 --> 00:10:33,360 Speaker 3: I'm amazed somewhat by these questions. Really, you would not 147 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:36,040 Speaker 3: have had many of the things that have now happened 148 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:38,480 Speaker 3: that she's already referred to if people like Penny weren't 149 00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:40,280 Speaker 3: in the Labour Party and weren't pushing for him. There 150 00:10:40,280 --> 00:10:41,480 Speaker 3: are a lot of people in the Labor Party who 151 00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:43,800 Speaker 3: don't agree with this stuff. At the moment, there's nowhere 152 00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:46,520 Speaker 3: near a majority, but there will be over time, because 153 00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:48,320 Speaker 3: people like Penny will work for it and it'll get 154 00:10:48,400 --> 00:10:50,280 Speaker 3: up in the end. But give her a break, for 155 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:52,640 Speaker 3: God's sake. She's part of a corpus. There's a whole 156 00:10:52,679 --> 00:10:55,880 Speaker 3: lot of it. She doesn't run the government, she's a 157 00:10:55,960 --> 00:10:57,920 Speaker 3: part of it, a part of it. There's a thing 158 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:00,280 Speaker 3: called cabinet slide of barity, and if she wants to 159 00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:03,000 Speaker 3: break it, she gets nowhere, you'll lose someone who fights 160 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:05,240 Speaker 3: for your cause. That my friends is dumb. 161 00:11:06,320 --> 00:11:09,199 Speaker 1: See Penny Wong was bound by that same century old 162 00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:12,480 Speaker 1: rule that dictates Labor members don't cross the floor on 163 00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:15,800 Speaker 1: matters of policy, and so she sacrificed her own personal 164 00:11:15,800 --> 00:11:20,600 Speaker 1: position to vote with the caucus. That's what Labor expects. 165 00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:23,600 Speaker 1: There are some exceptions when the party agrees a particular 166 00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:26,679 Speaker 1: matter can be a conscience vote. That is, each member 167 00:11:26,679 --> 00:11:29,720 Speaker 1: can decide how to vote according to their own conscience. 168 00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:33,679 Speaker 1: The Israel Palestine issue is not like that. Labour's policy 169 00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:36,320 Speaker 1: is to support Palestinian statehood as part of a two 170 00:11:36,440 --> 00:11:41,160 Speaker 1: state solution. The Greens want an unequivocal endorsement of Palestine 171 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:41,800 Speaker 1: as a state. 172 00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:45,680 Speaker 2: Now this motion, this was not a conscience vote. There 173 00:11:45,720 --> 00:11:48,679 Speaker 2: may be other motions and I wouldn't be surprised to 174 00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:52,000 Speaker 2: see the Greens moving another motion in the House to 175 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:55,400 Speaker 2: try and flush out more people in the Labor Party. 176 00:11:55,559 --> 00:12:00,720 Speaker 2: Adam Band has used Senator Payman's vote immediately saying calling 177 00:12:00,760 --> 00:12:05,559 Speaker 2: on other Labor MPs to vote against the Labor Party 178 00:12:05,640 --> 00:12:09,040 Speaker 2: policy on a two party solution in the Middle East. 179 00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:13,040 Speaker 2: But it's really the social division at home which is 180 00:12:13,080 --> 00:12:17,960 Speaker 2: the real problem. Senator payment has voted with the Greens 181 00:12:18,600 --> 00:12:23,520 Speaker 2: and pro Palestinian sympathizers that the Prime Minister has condemned. 182 00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:27,319 Speaker 2: He has excoriated them in the Parliament. He has attacked 183 00:12:27,360 --> 00:12:32,280 Speaker 2: the Greens for giving sympathy to antisemitic thoughts and actions, 184 00:12:32,559 --> 00:12:35,600 Speaker 2: damaging and attacking, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars of 185 00:12:35,679 --> 00:12:40,480 Speaker 2: damage to MPs, including Labor MPs and Josh Burns in 186 00:12:40,559 --> 00:12:46,520 Speaker 2: anti Semitic attacks. And so Senator Payment has backed that 187 00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:51,120 Speaker 2: whole sentiment of social division here in Australia. 188 00:12:51,559 --> 00:12:54,320 Speaker 1: What will be hurting Albanezi the most of the moment. 189 00:12:54,360 --> 00:12:56,280 Speaker 1: Do you think the fact that he's got a renegade 190 00:12:56,280 --> 00:12:59,280 Speaker 1: who he can't touch for those optics reasons that you 191 00:12:59,360 --> 00:13:02,960 Speaker 1: described before, or that the Greens have had a win here. 192 00:13:03,559 --> 00:13:06,920 Speaker 2: Oh well, I think it's essentially that the Greens have 193 00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:10,720 Speaker 2: had a win. But what that represents is a lack 194 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:14,600 Speaker 2: of authority from the Prime Minister. Lack of authority is 195 00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:20,680 Speaker 2: what is damaging Antony Albinese's leadership. He cannot continue to 196 00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:25,839 Speaker 2: win if he loses continues to lose authority. He's lost 197 00:13:25,840 --> 00:13:30,800 Speaker 2: authority over the voice, he lost authority over his denial 198 00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:34,160 Speaker 2: on changes to tax cuts. He lost authority on this 199 00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:38,439 Speaker 2: very issue of Palestine and social division and anti Semitism 200 00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:43,559 Speaker 2: in Australia. And now we have a senator challenging his authority, 201 00:13:43,960 --> 00:13:47,440 Speaker 2: joining the Greens the people he's condemned in Parliament that 202 00:13:47,559 --> 00:13:51,000 Speaker 2: all the other MPs have voted against. And so it 203 00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:52,400 Speaker 2: is a lack of authority. 204 00:13:55,000 --> 00:14:02,280 Speaker 1: Dennis Adahan is The Australian's National editor. Thanks for joining 205 00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:04,440 Speaker 1: us on the front and don't forget to join our 206 00:14:04,480 --> 00:14:07,560 Speaker 1: subscribers at the Australian dot com dot au