A NSW MP who was punished for criticising the police’s handling of pro-Palestine protests says internal debate inside Labor is being stifled and that the party will suffer at the ballot box if it cannot remain a “big tent” with diverse views.
Upper house state MP Anthony D’Adam’s comments to Crikey come as a federal Labor colleague, Western Australian Senator Fatima Payman, faces criticism from the prime minister over her comments criticising Israel’s war in Gaza.
“Labor has always been a big tent party, [but] I think individuals have become more reluctant to express dissenting positions in the Labor Party, and I think that’s to our detriment,” D’Adam said.
“I think it stifles internal debate. I think it limits our ability to speak to a multiplicity of constituencies. I think if Labor wants to be [a party] that represents a diverse cross-section of society, it needs to be able to accommodate dissenting views.”
D’Adam was sacked as a parliamentary secretary by NSW Premier Chris Minns on Thursday after he used a speech on the Parliament floor to criticise NSW Police’s Public Order and Riot Squad.
D’Adam said the riot squad had used “fear and intimidation as a means of obtaining compliance” when dispatched to Palestine protests, and said their behaviour “made a liar” of Police Commissioner Karen Webb, who had earlier vowed her officers would adhere to ethical policing principles.
In his speech, he also labelled Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza a “genocide”. The question of whether Israel’s actions constitute genocide is currently being argued in an international court, and Israel denies the accusation.
D’Adam, who has made frequent headlines in recent months for his stance on the Israel-Gaza conflict, told Crikey he appreciated that the premier had given him “some latitude” to express his views until now. He said he accepted that the difference between his and Minns’ positions was “probably too great” for him to continue serving as a parliamentary secretary.
Yet he lamented the notion party MPs increasingly have to toe the line.
“I think increasingly there’s a culture emerging in the Labor Party that doesn’t accept dissenting views, and I think that’s very concerning. And ultimately, it’s going to be to Labor’s electoral detriment, and people will look for other places to find voices to articulate their values.”
Asked about Senator Payman, D’Adam said he felt sympathetic towards her.
“Fatima Payman is in a particularly difficult situation — there’s been an expectation from the community, as Labor’s first woman Muslim in the Senate from Western Australia, that she speak up on this issue, and [at the same time] there’s very strong pressure from the leadership for her to toe the line,” D’Adam said.
“I think at the end of the day she just has to follow her conscience, and I respect that. I believe she’s doing the right thing and she should be congratulated for that, and not ostracised.”
Minns said in a statement after the sacking that D’Adam had refused to withdraw his comments in Parliament when asked to, and that his comments “do not represent the views of the NSW government”.
“I have formed the view that his actions and criticisms of the NSW Police, without at any time speaking with colleagues to convey his concerns in relation to this matter, are incompatible with his position as parliamentary secretary,” Minns said.
“The NSW Police Force does an incredible and extremely difficult job and they have the full support of the NSW government.”
