Fatima Payman’s colleagues support the decision to suspend her from the club, but signal that she will be welcomed back

Two senior Labor MPs in Western Australia have supported the party’s leadership’s decision to suspend Fatima Payman from the Labor Party following warnings that she would return to parliament.

The WA premier yesterday informed a Labor senator she was no longer welcome at the caucus if she continued to break strict party rules.

Last week, Senator Payman voted against her Labor colleagues to support the Greens’ motion for Palestinian statehood.

Senator Payman’s open call for Australian recognition of Palestinian statehood comes nine months after Israel’s war with Hamas began.

The senator warned Sunday that she would pass a vote if the situation repeated itself.

Resources Minister Madeleine King, who represents the Brand constituency in Perth’s south, said the party’s rules and the consequences of breaking them were widely known.

“It is clear to everyone and has been for a long time that in order to take joint action after the discussion, we need to join forces and show solidarity with our colleagues,” she said.

“That’s how we operate and that’s how we’ve always operated.

“Everyone knows about it. Senator Payman knows this. We’re not going to change overnight because of this, and I don’t think we need to.”

The suspension will result in Senator Payman remaining outside the Labor caucus and unable to attend meetings or take part in party decisions.

Patrick Gorman said Labour members would commit to a “number of things” if elected to Parliament.(ABC News: Keane Bourke)

On ABC’s Insiders on Sunday morning, before meeting Anthony Albanese at the Canberra Lodge, she said she had no intention of leaving the Labor Party or the caucus.

During an interview on Saturday, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles argued that Senator Payman would not have sat in federal parliament “if it were not for the fact” that her name was listed next to the Labor Party.

Patrick Gorman, the prime minister’s deputy minister and MP for Perth, said Labor members knew the deal they were signing up to.

“When we are elected to parliament, we will commit to a number of things,” he said.

“If people are unable to honour their commitments, then obviously the situation has to change.

“It’s not the club that has changed, it’s not the Labor Party that has changed, it’s Senator Payman that has changed. And that’s really her business.”

‘I’m sure she’d be welcome back’: Some are open to Payman returning

Senator Payman’s suspension from the primary elections is indefinite, but a government spokesman in a statement outlined the conditions for her return.

“If Senator Payman decides to respect the parliamentary faction and her Labor Party colleagues, she may return, but until then, Senator Payman is suspended from attending Labor Party parliamentary faction meetings and trials,” they said.

Ms King said she was open to such an arrangement if a commitment to upholding party principles could be demonstrated.

“If she chooses to respect the way we run our party meeting – which is based on solidarity and cooperation for the mutual benefit of the Australian people – and decides to change her mind and respect her colleagues in the meeting, I am confident she will be readmitted to the meeting,” she said.

Madeleine King says Payman may return if he “wants to respect the way we run our party meeting.”(AAP: Mick Tsikas)

Labor’s rules differ from those of the Liberal and National Parties, which offer greater leniency to rank-and-file MPs who wish to vote against the party line.

Although floor crossings remain relatively rare, some Coalition backbenchers sometimes choose to do so without formal approval from their party.

However, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton warned Albanese that if Labor was to make rules, they must be enforced.

“I think it’s time for the prime minister to show some leadership,” he said of the decision to suspend Senator Payman.

“He was treated with complete contempt.”