Curtin campers claim credit for Payman resignation

Student protesters who established a Gaza Solidarity Encampment at Curtin University claimed a win this week after Senator Fatima Payman resigned from the Labor party over her support of Palestinian statehood.

On Friday's front page, The West Australian revealed it was a visit to the Curtin encampment that made her realise she was constrained by her position on Labor's backbench.

“If I was not a senator, I would probably be out there camping with them,” she reportedly told The West. “The young people were angry and furious, like, what are you doing? You’re a young person in a government that ... takes so much pride in itself for representing us and our voices, and we’ve entrusted you with our voice, are you going to tell the Prime Minister, are you going to go back and tell your caucus this?”

On Instagram, encampment organisers Students for Palestine WA said this was "a prime example of how when we mobilise we can have an impact".

"Our movement can make an impact, but it means being mass, defiant, and politically firm. We get nowhere through appeasement."

We think this is a good example of how grassroots political campaigning can have unexpected and indirect consequences. Protesters don't often get what they ask for, at least not immediately, but the karmic ripples of their actions can extend in unforeseen directions. In this case, attention has been thrust on Labor's disconnect from a voter base it has historically relied upon. Labor now has one less vote to rely upon in the Upper House, where Greens and independents already hold the balance of power. Payman's decision and the emergence of The Muslim Vote campaign look set to accelerate the ongoing trend of voters deserting major parties in favour of independent and third-party alternatives.

Meanwhile, Premier Roger Cook has once again proven he can't land an insult anywhere near as well as his immediate predecessor. When Payman pointed out the obvious to The Sunday Times — that many Labor voters were "disenfranchised" — Cook's response was to say: "This is just more poison from Canberra that’s coming across the border to Western Australia... But you know, just like cane toads, we need to resist the poison that comes from Canberra or from over East at times." The comments followed repeated references in the media to Payman as a "Labor rat".

Remember when Donald Trump was widely condemned for his comments about rooting out "the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country"?

What to read on Payman's resignation

• At his newsletter everything is fine*, Alex McKinnon has covered Payman's resignation in depth. His most recent piece details how and why Labor and media figures have subsequently savaged the Senator.
• The Guardian reports that Labor's Friends of Palestine group has warned of "a chasm" emerging between the party's traditional base and the government over Palestine.
• In The Sydney Morning Herald ($), Rob Harris says the results of the UK election, in which Jeremy Corbyn and four other new MPs successfully won seats off Labour by campaigning on Palestine, are a warning sign for Albanese.

Teal Scare

"The Teals are coming for WA," said The West regarding the emerging Voices for Forrest community independent campaign.

Simon Holmes a Court's Climate 200 has made a donation, reportedly in the tens of thousands of dollars, to the group in South West WA, who hope to oust sitting Liberal Nola Marino. Voices for Forrest has begun its search for a candidate.

Tom Price is Right for Libs

Back in May, we reported on how the WA Labor government continued to push back long-awaited spending on a new hospital for the Pilbara iron ore town of Tom Price. Locals say existing infrastructure is dilapidated and doesn't meet the needs of residents and FIFO workers. Now, Liberal leader Libby Mettam has promised that, if elected, her government would start and finish work on the project within its first term. "Tom Price Hospital is another example of Labor’s failures and wrong priorities – they promised to build the hospital in 2021 but have done nothing,” she said.