Fatima Payman stuns committee by asking if PM was waiting for Helen Haines-style attack against her

Independent federal Senator Fatima Payman has stunned a committee by asking whether Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was waiting for a Helen Haines-style attack on her before granting her additional staff.

She refused to withdraw the comment until she was granted the request she put to the prime minister shortly after she defected from Labor in 2024.

Haines remains in hospital in a serious but stable condition with both her legs amputated after being struck by a car in an alleged deliberate attack outside her electorate office in regional Victoria last Monday.

Politicians have used the first few days of parliamentary sitting this week to call for the temperature to be turned down and for respectful debate.

Payman requested two additional advisers, in line with the staffing levels in the offices of other independents, almost two years ago but the prime minister has failed to process it.

She has been repeatedly targeted with abuse and threats, with her office being sent human faeces just last week.

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Two separate men, one from Queensland and another from Victoria, have pleaded guilty to threatening Payman this year. In one instance, she was sent a letter saying there was a bullet with her name written on it.

At a late-night senate estimates hearing on Monday, Payman said more staff would help her deal with “psychosocial hazards” she has received leaving the party.

She repeatedly asked Labor minister Don Farrell why her request has not received a response for almost two years, while newly elected parliamentarians have had their requests approved.

She questioned whether the prime minister was making an example out of her for defecting from Labor.

Farrell redirected the questions to the prime minister and said he would raise it with him again.

After a back and forth, Payman invoked Haines to call for more staff.

“Please raise this with the prime minister, because if he cares so much about the welfare and wellbeing of people who work in this building, then I implore you and the prime minister to please look into the fact that my staff are burning out,” she said.

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“They can’t take this any longer.

“Is the prime minister waiting for something like what happened to Dr Helen Haines to occur to my office, to me, for him to take our request seriously?”

Farrell said that was an “outrageous suggestion”, to which Payman said she “can’t believe that I’m saying that or making that suggestion because it’s been two years”.

Payman was asked to withdraw her comment, which she refused to do until the prime minister granted her more staff.

In September, she joined forces with One Nation leader Pauline Hanson and independent MP Dai Le to accuse Albanese of unfairly determining who receives additional staff and called for the powers to be taken out of his hands.

The unlikely trio claimed they were being denied the staffing levels needed to do their jobs.