Senator Fatima Payman has launched her Australia's Voice political party
.
Payman said the centrist party is a response to those who are "fed up" with the two major parties and would be a voice for the "disenfranchised, the unheard, and those yearning for real change".
"We need a voice ... Because we can no longer sit by while our voices are drowned out by the same old politics," she told reporters on Wednesday.
"This is more than a party. It is a movement for a fairer, more inclusive Australia. Together, we will hold our leaders accountable and ensure that your voice, Australia's voice, will never be silenced."
She did not disclose where she would run candidates, saying "all the details will come in due course".
But SBS News understands she will run Senate candidates in all states and contest a few lower house seats.
Asked whether she was concerned people might criticise and accuse her of co-opting the term 'Voice' — in reference to
— Payman said she had consulted with First Nations people and hoped to engage with Elders throughout the parliamentary process.
What will Australia's Voice campaign on?
The 29-year-old did not reveal the policy platform but highlighted housing affordability and cost of living as agenda items.
"The policy platform will come in time, and I'm very excited to publicly announce them in due course," Payman said.
When asked what would differentiate the party from the Greens, she said while she admired their "passion" Australians often felt they "go too far".
"When it comes to practicality or pragmatism, there needs to be that level of engagement with what is possible and what can be achieved," she said.
Payman also divulged that members of her party would "definitely have a conscience vote", having experienced intimidation by her former Labor colleagues after she
.
She referenced
when saying Labor had "lost its way".
"If we need to drag the two major parties kicking and screaming to do what needs to be done, we will do it," Payman said.
"I'm reminded of the quote by the great Gough Whitlam: 'There are some people who are so frightened to put a foot forward, to put a foot wrong, that they won't put a foot forward'.
"This comment was made in 1985 and applies so much to the current Labor Party, which has lost its way."
She said her party "believes in a system where people come first".
Who will run?
The Western Australia senator said disgruntled former Labor candidates and some National Party members had approached her but no candidates have yet been locked in.
She said her members would be decided on merit and reflect the diversity of Australia.
, Payman said she was considering running a candidate in the prime minister's seat of Grayndler in Sydney's inner-west after being challenged by Anthony Albanese to resign.
Albanese said Payman — elected from third place in Labor's 2022 WA Senate ticket and not up for re-election until 2028 — should leave parliament until her popularity was tested under the banner of her new political party.
Payman said that by launching a party, her popularity would be tested.
