Anthony Albanese hints at expected crossbench move by ousted Labor senator Fatima Payman

Fatima Payman is poised to quit Labor and move to the crossbench within days after Anthony Albanese hinted the WA senator has been plotting her exit for weeks.

The Prime Minister suspended the WA senator from the Labor caucus at the weekend amid the fallout from her crossing the floor to back a Greens motion on Palestinian statehood.

The Government on Wednesday evening moved its own motion in the lower house, calling on the chamber to endorse its position “to support the recognition of the State of Palestine as part of a peace process in support of a two-state solution and a just and enduring peace”.

Senator Payman’s indefinite suspension was confirmed at Tuesday’s caucus meeting, although Labor has left the door open for her to return to the fold if she agrees to abide by its solidarity rules.

But it emerged on Tuesday that the senator has had informal talks with Glenn Druery, the political adviser known as the “preference whisperer” for his role in getting micro-party and independent candidates elected.

Talks have reportedly been running for weeks — long before she broke ranks in the Senate.

Mr Albanese told Parliament on Wednesday that Senator Payman “has made a decision to place herself outside the Labor Party”, mirroring the wording of the caucus motion.

“That is a decision that she made. I expect further announcements in the coming days which will explain exactly what the strategy has been over now more than a month,” he said.

Any confirmation that the WA senator has been secretly plotting to jump ship will enrage Labor colleagues, particularly those who have tried to support her during a tumultuous fortnight in parliament.

Labor gave the pro-Palestine supporters among its ranks a chance to air their views in Parliament on Wednesday evening with the motion endorsing a two-state solution.

Assistant Foreign Affairs Minister Tim Watts, who moved the motion, said a two-state solution was the only way to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East.

“Peacemaking is hard. It requires real leadership by serious people,” he said.

“It requires those of us who are not central players in this conflict to support those who are in the hard work of progressing a two-state solution to this conflict.”

He accused the Greens of walking away from a two-state solution, saying some members of the minor party thought there should be no state of Israel while some members of the Opposition thought there should be no state of Palestine.

Minister Anne Aly, who last month represented the Government at an international conference in Jordan calling for urgent humanitarian aid for Gaza, said there was great appreciation internationally for what Australia was doing.

“The political noise happening here ... is so vastly, vastly disconnected from the conversations in the region,” she said.

“Today we put forward a motion that reaffirms our commitment to peace. And through this motion, we send a very clear message to those people in Gaza and in the occupied territories that we support their aspirations for self determination, we support their aspirations for a just an enduring peace.”

Labor MPs including Peter Khalil and Ged Kearney also spoke emotionally in the debate.

Josh Burns, who is Jewish, told the House he “dreamed of peace” and that his heart broke for both sides of the seemingly intractable conflict.

He said the motion in the House was the “bare minimum” Australia could do.

“I wish that we could pull a lever here in Australia and it would all end today,” he said.

“We need to see people in Australia looking and having conversations, not just sitting on your phone and reinforcing your own views but reach across and have a discussion with someone who may not agree with you.

“Because this conflict is not a license to divide our community. This conflict is about people. It is about two peoples who deserve to live in dignity and peace because that is what we want in the in the region.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Mr Albanese told Parliament that peace in the Middle East “won’t be achieved by resolutions in the Senate and stunts by the Greens, it won’t be achieved by those people who choose to desecrate war memorials”.

Mr Druery has also been in talks with members of the Muslim community as momentum builds for a teal-style campaign mobilising Muslim voters against sitting Labor MPs.

A new group called The Muslim Vote is preparing to run candidates in three Sydney seats with large Muslim communities.

A separate group called Muslim Votes Matter is trying to rally Muslim voters across more than 30 electorates, including Burt, Cowan and Swan in WA.

It is not known if Senator Payman has spoken to those groups.

Mr Druery came to prominence more than a decade ago after he helped get multiple minor party candidates elected to the Senate, including Dio Wang, who won a WA Senate seat for the Palmer United Party at the expense of Labor’s Louise Pratt in 2014.

He has been linked to groups including Family First, the Liberal Democrats, Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party, and, in WA, the Fluoride Free and Daylight Saving parties.

Greens leader Adam Bandt has said his party is not trying to woo the WA senator, meaning its most likely she will sit as an independent crossbench if she abandons Labor.

The West Australian has reported Senator Payman could be on the hook to repay campaign funds if she quits the Labor Party after all WA election candidates signed a pledge to abide by caucus solidarity and remain party members