Payman’s office gets racist emails ‘daily’, as man sentenced over death threat to WA senator

3 hours ago 2

Independent WA senator Fatima Payman says her office continues to receive daily racist messages, after a 51-year-old Ballarat man avoided jail after sending her death threats over email in March.

Sean David Sharman pleaded guilty and was sentenced to an 18-month community correction order and was ordered to treat his alcohol addiction in Ballarat Magistrates Court on Monday.

Sharman derided Payman’s Muslim faith in the emails, and told her he had a bullet with her name on it in one threatening message.

Payman told this masthead she accepted the court’s sentence, but said there needed to be stronger deterrents for racism and hate speech, which her office continued to receive daily.

“I have faith that the court has considered all of the evidence and delivered an appropriate sentence,” she said.

“I don’t want anyone handed custodial sentences when not appropriate, however, there does need to be a stronger message that there is no place for hatred and racism.

“While this email was particularly abhorrent, I receive messages like this daily over email, on social media and over the phone.”

Payman said the abuse took its toll.

“It takes a huge toll not just on me, but on my staff and hinders the ability for my office to serve the people of WA to the best of our ability,” she said.

The ABC reported that Magistrate Julia Barling said the sentence was not a light touch and, had Sharman had prior convictions, he likely would have gone to jail.

She also considered Sharman’s PTSD and other personal circumstances.

“This behaviour is becoming increasingly prevalent with keyboard warriors being willing to locate people’s contact details and fire off an email to a person that, I’m quite confident from what I’ve heard about you, you would not say to someone’s face,” she said.

Payman was 28 when she was elected as a Labor senator for Western Australia in 2022.

She was also the first woman in Muslim headwear in the Senate.

She quit the Labor Party in July to sit as an independent after clashing with Labor’s then-position on recognising Palestinian statehood.

In October, she launched her own political party, Australia’s Voice.

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