Tax cuts begin; Fatima Payman suspended from work; French election results boost National Assembly

Labor senator Fatima Payman has been suspended indefinitely from the Labor party during crisis talks with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at The Lodge in Canberra.

Payman was summoned to the Prime Minister’s residence yesterday afternoon following an explosive interview with ABC Insiders programme in which she promised to cross the floor again and vote for a motion supporting an independent Palestinian state if the Greens put another motion to parliament this week.

The defiant Western Australian senator was at The Lodge for about 40 minutes and was spotted leaving the mast at about 3.10pm yesterday. Asked if she had been thrown out of the ALP, Payman said she had not, but did not take any further questions.

Read the full story on Payman’s suspension here and go here for James Massola’s analysis of the situation and what it means for the Labour Party.