Key Points
- Fatima Payman delivered her first speech to parliament on Tuesday
- She is the youngest MP and first to wear a hijab.
Fatima Payman, the youngest member of the new Australian parliament, has spoken of her hijab being "ridiculed" at university, and how "inferences to extremism" made her feel like she didn't belong.
The new senator for Western Australia used her first speech to share her family's story of fleeing Afghanistan to Pakistan, and later migrating to Australia and settling in Perth.
She said her father suffered "discrimination and abuse to job insecurity and low wages" and that she was subjected to abuse while studying pharmacy at university.
"I stumbled upon my first experience of being made to feel like the 'Other' at a university tutorial when a young man ridiculed my hijab," she said.
"You see I never felt different growing up. Perth felt like home from the get-go - because home is where the heart is and my heart was with my family," she said.
"I didn’t feel different or strange, I felt like any other Aussie kid, growing up in the northern suburbs of Perth, catching public transport to university and hoping to become a productive member of society.
"But comments like 'Go back to where you came from' or inferences to extremism forced me to feel like I didn’t belong.
"So I started volunteering in the hopes of being part of a change, if I was seen to be spreading goodness in society, perhaps then I will be accepted as an equal member of this nation."
There's a lot of potential in that space, we just need to ... water the seedlings
As a Labor senator for Western Australia, Senator Payman said she wants to work towards better representation in federal and state parliaments by engaging with women, people of colour, faith and "all walks of life".
Speaking to SBS News ahead of her first speech, she also spoke of the importance of engaging youth.
At 27, she is Australia's youngest serving senator and among the youngest in history.
She said: "I'll use my youth as much as I can, the energy and enthusiasm I have to ensure that young people have their say when it comes to legislation that will impact their lives for many years to come.
"It's our young people who are going to be our future leaders and they're going to run this nation, and some of the brightest ideas come from young people," she said.
"There's a lot of potential in that space, we just need to ... water the seedlings."
In her first speech, Senator Payman spoke about her family, her priorities as a new senator, representation and her journey with the Labor party. Source: SBS News
'The faces of multicultural communities'
Sam Lim, Member for Tangney, also delivered his first speech on Tuesday, and spoke about his upbringing in Malaysia, his previous careers as a police officer and later dolphin trainer, and religion and spirituality.
In 2002, Senator Lim and his wife made the decision to come to Australia in pursuit of education and opportunities for their children.
Senator Lim credited Gough Whitlam and Labor for making his journey possible by abolishing the last vestiges of the White Australia Policy in 1973.
"He introduced multiculturalism into Australia - because of him we can call Australia home," Senator Lim said.
"Because of him, I and many of the new MPs here in the 47th parliament can be the faces and representatives of our multicultural communities."
Senator Lim also spoke about diversity in his electorate of Tangney, where more than 50 per cent of residents speak English as a second language.
He said many migrants in the area had come from war-torn countries, and spoke about the importance of learning from history and avoiding unnecessary conflicts.
"People from countries with conflict now live together harmoniously in Australia. I am a firm believer that we must propagate peace, not only in our communities but in our neighbouring countries and beyond," he said.
"Peace, love, unity, respect; these are simple but meaningful words to live by and I choose to live by these words."
