00:00And I am tired of looking in my staff's eyes and saying,
00:04you just have to deal with this because the Prime Minister is petty
00:07and is taking it out on me.
00:10All right, Senator Payman.
00:11All right.
00:12Independent Senator Fatima Payman has delivered an emotional outburst in Parliament,
00:17questioning whether Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was waiting for another attack on a politician
00:22before addressing her staff's safety concerns.
00:25My staff are burning out.
00:30They can't take this any longer.
00:33And is the Prime Minister waiting for something like what happened to Dr Helen Haynes
00:38to occur to my office, to me, for him to take our request seriously?
00:45Look, I personally think that's an outrageous suggestion, Senator Payman.
00:50Yeah, I can't believe that I'm saying that or making that suggestion
00:53because it's been two years.
00:55Maybe Senator Payman is just taking a moment to think about those kind of accusations
01:03while we rotate the call might be a worthy pursuit.
01:07We'll go back to...
01:08I think everyone can make their own, Chair Minister.
01:11That Senator Payman go further and withdraw that suggestion about the Prime Minister's motivation
01:18because it's absolutely not the case.
01:20Well, I'd love to have a response from the Prime Minister and then I'll withdraw it.
01:24I've said...
01:25Well, that's not what I'm requesting.
01:27I'm requesting that you withdraw it now.
01:29Senator Payman, that was quite an outrageous statement.
01:35I would ask you to withdraw it.
01:37I appreciate your frustration.
01:39Chair.
01:39But I'm not sure...
01:40Chair, with all due respect, I haven't made any accusation.
01:45I think you just did.
01:47It wasn't...
01:48I mean, you can take it as an accusation, Minister,
01:50but once you've discussed it with the Prime Minister
01:53and if he thinks that's an accusation, then I'll withdraw it.
01:56Well, it'll be too late by then because when this session is over,
01:59then it's too late for you to withdraw...
02:01I've been waiting two years, Chair,
02:04and I am tired of looking in my staff's eyes
02:08and saying you just have to deal with this
02:10because the Prime Minister is petty
02:12and is taking it out on me...
02:15All right, Senator Payman.
02:16All right?
02:17This is on parliamentary accusations that you're throwing around
02:21and I would ask you to have a...
02:23Well, perhaps you can raise it with the President.
02:25I would be delighted to raise it with the President, yes.
02:29But such accusations are not within the bounds
02:35of parliamentary behaviour.
02:36I appreciate your frustration.
02:38I really do.
02:39I'm sorry that it's come to this.
02:41But making those kind of accusations
02:43against another member of the Parliament
02:45is not where we're at.
02:47We should be better than that.
02:49You'd expect better.
02:50And we thought particularly on a day like today,
02:52we should all be better than that.
02:58You
