The independent senator, who quit the Labor party after it refused to condemn the Gaza genocide, was asked how she thinks the last parliamentary year has gone:

I think this government has clearly shown they are afraid of transparency. We have asked questions during estimates. I have asked questions around the $1 billion building early education fund and it six weeks later we haven’t seen answers for it. We don’t know where the money that this government a allocating where the money is going, why it is not helping build the infrastructure that they’re committing. When it comes to the EPBC Act they have stalled. We know climate change is real. We know there is a climate crisis Tropical Cyclone Fina in the Kimberley is an example of how real it is and how it is impacting real lives.

And on the mining friendly environment laws, Payman says:

If it is that important they wouldn’t rush it, right? We would have the opportunity to scrutinise the bill. There is seven pieces of the bill in this package, the biggest environmental reform package we have seen and they are trying to rush it by making deals.

If this was such an urgent matter for the government they would have passed it before the election when they actually had a deal with the Greens and some cross bench Would you vote for it as members. the legislation currently?

I think there are many improvements that are required, including climate trigger and the national interest that the powers that the minister’s going to have and there are various elements of it that the government needs to improve before it can pass the Senate