Making history today, on World Refugee Day, Fatima Payman has now become a first Afghan-Australian and first hijab-wearing Muslim woman in parliament.
Winning Western Australiaโs sixth and final Senate seat, she is the stateโs only new senator, after Labor senators Sue Lines and Glenn Sterle were re-elected, along with Liberal senators Michaelia Cash and Dean Smith, SBS reported.
โWE WON!!!! Iโm proud to announce that Iโve officially been elected as a Senator for Western Australia,โ she said on Facebook.
โThank you everyone for your love and support! We did it!โ
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Payman arrived as a refugee from Afghanistan as a child with her parents and three siblings, before growing up in Perthโs northern suburbs.
Inspired by the hard work of her parents, Payman became an organizer for the United Workers Union.
She later decided to turn to politics to represent the hard-working Australians after losing her father to leukaemia in 2018.
Cheering
Her inspiring victory was widely welcomed by other politicians, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese who wrote โCongratulations Senator Paymanโ on Twitter.
Others posted support messages on Twitter as well to celebrate Paymanโs achievement.
BREAKING: Meet Western Australiaโs newest Senator โ Fatima Payman.
The @AusElectoralCom Senate count for WA just minutes ago confirmed that Fatima will be joining the @AlboMP Labor team in the Senate. #auspol pic.twitter.com/6jvSvkc2Jx
โ Patrick Gorman MP (@PatrickGormanMP) June 20, 2022
Congratulations to WAโs newest Senator โ Labor Senator elect Fatima Payman Making history today #wapol #auspol #Labor
โ Senator Sue Lines (@linessue) June 20, 2022
On this #WorldRefugeeDay we are pleased to hear that Ms Fatima Payman, an Afghan ๐ฆ๐ซRefugee, now an Australian ๐ฆ๐บ citizen, has made her path towards the Senate of the @Aust_Parliament
Many congratulations, Senator Fatima Payman! pic.twitter.com/MSExD38mpp
โ Afghanistan in Australia (@AfghanEmbassyAu) June 20, 2022
Earlier this month, Anne Aly and Ed Husic made history as they became Australiaโs first Muslim ministers.
Husic took the portfolio as the Minister for Industry and Science while Aly became Minister for Early Childhood Education and the Minister for Youth.
In 2017, Nadia Saleh made history after becoming Australiaโs first hijab-wearing councilor
