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It's not so much a storm in a teacup as boredom in the bubble. The airtime and words devoted to an obscure Labor senator from Western Australia - the parliamentary press gallery tripping up over itself in pursuit of the story - far outweighs the interest out here in the rest of Australia.
Sure, the decision by the Labor parliamentary caucus to sanction Senator Fatima Payman for crossing the floor to support a pointless Greens motion on recognising the state of Palestine, might affect the party's standing in a few seats in Melbourne and Sydney. But it's a safe assumption the issue has little resonance in the rest of the country.
Here in my electorate - a critical one for the government, held by just a handful of votes - the price of eggs and the size of the potholes are front of mind, not Labor caucus solidarity and whether the party is being mean to a young senator who's broken a cardinal party rule by crossing the floor.
It's not that people here don't care about Palestine. The ones I speak to certainly do but more immediate local issues like offshore wind farms, nuclear power, the state of the roads and the cost of housing will sway their votes. Not matters of personal principle versus party discipline over how the government responds to a conflict on the other side of the world.
And while the Greens try to make political capital out the issue, they know there's no real ballot box advantage to be had in electorates with large Muslim populations. These might side with the Greens' position on Palestine but are unlikely to embrace the party's stance on drugs and gender because of their religious conservatism.
Boiled down, it's performative wedge politics with no purpose other than disruption, distraction and firming support in the inner city seats it already holds. An opportunity to pick up the protest megaphone.
Not even the opposition has been pursuing the Payman issue with any real vigour, which ought to tell the press gallery they're over-egging it.
This isn't to diminish Senator Payman's principled stand. It takes enormous courage to cross the floor, especially when your party is explicit such a move would breach its own constitution.
But does her action and the response to it warrant the drowning out of other pressing concerns?
Women are still being murdered by their intimate partners - 17 more by June this year than during the same time last year. Homeless people are shivering through the coldest winter in decades. Food banks are being overwhelmed by demand. Key legislation looks like it's being held over until after the next election because of a shortage of people to draft it.
The senator's crossing of the floor is done. She's suspended from the parliamentary caucus until she agrees to abide by the party's rules. She hasn't been expelled. She says she feels intimidated. Her party denies it.
Surely, it's time to move on.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Is Senator Payman's crossing of the floor a big deal where you live? Is it a major issue for you? What stories should the parliamentary press gallery be pursuing? Email us: echidna@theechidna.com.au
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THEY SAID IT: "May we never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion." - Dwight D. Eisenhower
YOU SAID IT: As a country we're not as polarised as some. There's little appetite for extremism. That should make us optimistic.
"I am fighting cancer," writes Sheila. "Thank goodness I am naturally optimistic and planning ahead for holidays! I'll stick to the centre and only wish the best of all parties could form a government that gets somewhere."
Lee writes: "I try to be positive at most times. I am a little left of centre in relation to my politics. I think the best thing that has happened for federal politics is having so many independents. I would love to have more. It makes it much more representative of true Australia. State-wise, we have an independent politician. While I don't always agree with him, he seems to have the ability to get things done for our area. What else can you ask for?"
"I believe the left/right/centre tropes are no longer relevant," writes David. "Most of us but the completely brainwashed ideologues have positions where we lean or fall to the left or the right, or sit in the centre. The world is complex and so-called left and right people find themselves sometimes in bed with each other on some issues and at war on others. Those who sit in the centre seem to be unable to get anything done. We need more independents in parliament so that each issue is interrogated by those who have no interests pulling their strings."
Stephanie writes: "I've always tried to have a positive attitude. Many years ago, early in my career selling cars back in the UK, on a very cold, snowy day, when the chance of showroom traffic was minimal, my then sales manager, in an attempt to motivate his team came out with a classic phrase which I revert to whenever I'm feeling overwhelmed. His phrase was 'A positive attitude doesn't always work but a negative one never works' and it's absolutely true!"
"Top-o-the-morning to ya, John," writes Joan. "The most optimistic people in the world, are I believe, to be found on the golf course. Particularly on country courses where most members are probably on ordinary sort of handicaps, (like 18-45) and playing ordinary golf with the occasional miracle round, and that wonderful feeling of a perfectly struck drive that happens too rarely. Aged between 30 and 90 they keep punishing themselves by turning up in the frost and fog in winter, a 40 degree heat in summer to continue the torture. But the comment most heard is: 'Well, we are here and lots of people would like to be but are not able. Aren't we lucky, and isn't it a beautiful day for it", as we land yet another little white ball into the dam with a heavy sigh."