When Fatima Payman was first elected to Australia’s senate - she didn’t imagine she’d go to war with the Prime Minister two years later.

Back in May, the country’s first ever hijabi lawmaker broke ranks with the governing Labor Party and accused Israel of genocide in Gaza.

Despite attempts by her party to rein her in, she refused to stay quiet about what she saw happening in Gaza, and became increasingly vocal about her party’s silence on the issue, and Australia’s continued trade deals with Israel.

​​By June, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese suspended her from the caucus, then from the party, and by July she’d been exiled permanently.

Today, she continues to advocate for Palestinian rights as an independent senator, and her fiery critiques of the Labor government are even bolder.

This week on The Big Picture Podcast, we speak with Senator Fatima Payman about navigating her young career in Politics as an outsider determined to speak from her conscience.

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