First person to wear Hijab in parliament delivers first speech as senator

The first person to wear a hijab in parliament has described her first experiences of racism in Australia as she delivered her first speech as a senator.

On Tuesday evening, Senator Fatima Payman delivered an emotional maiden speech to the Senate, as her family watched from the gallery.

Senator Payman opened with a traditional Islamic greeting, Assalaamu Alaykum, translating to “May peace be upon you all”.

The Afghan-born Australian politician thanked those who supported her on her road to parliament, and said she was proud of her heritage and grateful “to this beautiful country”.

“It is a country that offers so much to so many,” Senator Payman said.

“People travel from all parts of the world in the hopes of calling Australia home. My family and I also had that same hope.”

Addressing fellow Senators, with the Prime Minister behind her, the 27-year-old West Australian Senator said she was “ridiculed” in her first year of university for wearing a hijab.

“Cruising in my own world of endeavours, 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.

She said she felt like she didn’t belong after receiving comments like “go back to where you came from”.

“While at times and even in this very chamber, xenophobia has raised its ugly head, fear mongering and divisive sentiments have been shared about our immigrant population, but the simple truth remains that as a nation we need a humanistic, optimistic immigration,” she said.

Going on to quote the Hon. Penny Wong’s first speech, Senator Payman said she sought a nation where Australians could share “regardless of race or gender, or other attributes, and regardless of where they live and where difference is not a basis for exclusion”.

“The simple truth remains that as a nation, we need a humanistic, optimistic immigration.”

The Prime Minister smiled as Senator Payman said she wanted homelessness in Australia “gone”.

She called for an end to bigotry, discrimination and racism, stating that Australia is “way beyond” that.

The Perth-raised Senator, who lost her father to leukaemia, revealed she has also experienced anxiety and depression, and knows the importance of maintaining her emotional and mental state.

Among her many calls to action, tackling the cost of living crisis and ending stigma against people from different cultures were paramount.

“Let us not settle on multiculturalism being just a brand we associate with and take pride in as a nation, but rather fully embrace it by caring for one another, by accepting each other for who we are and what we can become and by ensuring all voices are heard at the table.”