Fatima Payman says a small prayer to herself before she bites into a hard date and takes a sip of water from a glass.
The sun starts to set at around 7pm. It's the first taste of food or water she's had all day.
She's in her office, in between Senate sittings, when she breaks her fast.
"This is why you don't put [dates] in the fridge!" she laughs between small bites.
The Labor senator is observing her first Ramadan in parliament. while increasing prayer and charity.
Then, a loud constant bell rings through the room. Parliamentary duties are calling, and Senator Payman will have to race back to the Senate chamber.
She's only had two sips of water and the smell of her chicken curry, not yet touched, wafts through the room. She ditches her meal, the first for the day, and rushes to work.
"I've gotta go. I'll be back," she tells SBS News.
She heads back to the Senate briefly before she returns to pray and starts eating.
Senator Payman performs her sunset prayer after breaking her fast. Source: SBS News
The family would get up together before dawn to eat an unusually early meal, called suhur, and feast together at sunset.
But it looks a little different this year for Senator Payman, who is observing her first Ramadan alone. The hours are long, with the Senate sometimes sitting past midnight.
Senator Payman made headlines after the 2022 federal election, becoming the . She came to Australia as a refugee at the age of eight in 2003, after her father fled Afghanistan by boat in 1999 and saved enough money to sponsor her and her family.
Now, she's just one of the politicians who helped establish Australia's 47th parliament, .
As she engages in a celebration of her faith, she says she's surprised by how accommodating her workplace has been.
"Before I came into this place, [hearing] these horrifying stories … it would scare me. I'd be like, 'man, what kind of place is this?'" she says.
Her comments come following a scathing independent review in 2021, headed by Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins, into allegations of toxic workplace culture at Parliament House.
Senator Payman says she gets asked often by younger Muslim community members whether she faces discrimination in parliament — and she's excited to tell them: "no, actually".
"It's remarkable to see even women on the crossbench or women from the Opposition, giving you the time of day and actually giving you two cents of advice, or just checking in on you," she says.
She's been excused from committee hearings to break her fast, and her colleagues in the Senate chamber have cheered her on with countdowns until sunset. Her staffers, who are not Muslim, fasted a day with her in solidarity, too.
"The workplace culture here is amazing, far better than what I had anticipated coming in."
She recounts hosting a gathering in her office for her Labor colleagues to mark the start of the holy month on 22 March, a moment she said was "incredible".
The group, which included Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek, as well as NT Senator Malarndirri McCarthy, were keen to learn about Ramadan.
WA Labor Senator Fatima Payman observes her first Ramadan in parliament. Source: SBS News
"I think the beauty of it all was their curiosity and their willingness to understand and that respect that they showed ... it's been an enriching experience."
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong couldn't make it but bought her Ramadan-themed Kit Kats and a box of dates — which she's breaking her fast with on every night in parliament.
She hasn't had such a smooth relationship with all her colleagues in the Senate, though.
In June last year, following Labor's successful election, Senator Payman said she was.
Now, she says, smiling, her relationship with Senator Hanson is still a "work in progress".
"The optimist inside me is like, 'work in progress, we're getting there'. But the realist would be like, 'yeah, maybe not'.
"I respect her for having her own opinions. And maybe she's appealing to a constituency that's very different to mine."
The bell rings again. It's time for her to go back into the chamber at 8pm — and she has a feeling she won't finish up any time soon.
Even then, though, she says she's loving every bit of observing her faith while representing her state of WA in the nation's capital.
"[Fasting in parliament] is that feeling of doing something for the greater good, but also, you're serving your Lord, while serving your community. It's a win-win situation. I love it."
Ramadan started around 22 March and will end around 21 April.
