Unlikely political bedfellows team up against Albanese over staff

Usually they wouldn’t be seen dead together. But Pauline Hanson, Fatima Payman and Dai Le joined forces on Thursday to condemn Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for discriminating against them in staffing allocations.

The prime minister decides how many personal staff parliamentarians receive, and he has been arbitrary in his decisions.

Senator Payman, an independent who defected from the Labor Party last term to the crossbench over the issue of Palestine, has complained constantly about being discriminated against. Leaving aside electorate staff, she has no personal staff allocated to her compared, for example, with the two each that fellow independents David Pocock and Lidia Thorpe (who defected from the Greens) have.

One Nation doubled its Senate representation from two to four at the 2025 election but received no extra staff.

After its win in the Farrer byelection One Nation has six in the parliament, but only five staff in total.

Le won the Labor seat of Fowler in 2022 as an indeopendent. She has an allocation of one staffer.

Payman made a highly personal attack on Albanese at their joint news conference.

Australia has heard the prime minister’s recent comments on melons, on Grace Tame, and Kylie Minogue.

He brags about his female majority caucus and the government’s track record on women’s rights. But are those rights only granted to women who agree with him?

I know the prime minister wants to punish me, but he should not be allowed to play favouritism.

There should be an independent process that guides resourcing when it comes to parliament, not the whim of a petty man.

Hanson said that for a year “I have been asking, requesting, begging – actually, I have been begging the prime minister to listen to what is happening in my office and to allow me the staff to do my job”.

“I’m calling on the prime minister again: please give us the resources that we need to do the job for the Australian people. You’re hurting the Australian people.

"You said you’d be open and honest, accountable and transparent. You’ve been everything but.

"And therefore, the people are really seeing through this prime minister, who is selfish […] he doesn’t give a damn about the people, and he certainly doesn’t respect the other elected members of parliament in this place in giving us the resources that we need to do our jobs.”

Le told their joint news conference there were “no published criteria, no explanation, no appeal”, when it came to staffing.

“When support is decided that way, it won’t be fair, and it won’t be seen to be fair. Staffing is not just about a desk in an office. An additional personal staff member strengthens the whole electorate office.

"They can support electorate offices by helping coordinate complex matters, prepare briefings and correspondence, engage with government agencies and stakeholders, and ensure broader issues affecting our community are properly raised in Canberra.”

Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.