Mehreen Faruqi enters the Senate, 75 years after Australia’s first female MP

Amid the chaos of the leadership spill, a political milestone risked going unnoticed. The 100th woman in the Upper House, Greens’ Senator Mehreen Faruqi, rose to give her maiden speech.

Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi speaks to the media during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Monday, August 20, 2018. Source: AAP

But the occasion was momentous for another reason.

 

She is the first Muslim woman ever to claim one of the Senate’s red chairs.