Dr Mehreen Faruqi was sworn in today as a Senator in Australian Senate.
The leader of the Greens and other Senators welcomed her at the parliament.
Senator Faruqi replaces Greens leader Lee Rhiannon who announced her resignation from Senate earlier this year.
Ms Faruqi migrated to Australia from Pakistan in 1992 and has represented the party in the NSW Upper House since 2013.
Speaking to SBS Urdu in June 2018 about her new role as a Senator, Ms Faruqi said she was excited but a bit sad too.
“In the last five years, I met a lot of people which is a privilege as a politician. You get to meet thousands of people and get to know many views and this is what I plan to do which is to take their voices to Senate.
I came to Australia in 1992 and from that time until now, I feel that Australia has changed a lot. I came with my husband and with my one year old son and often say with two suitcases, which is the story of almost every migrant.
When I came to Australia I feel that there was a lot of support for migrants to settle or to look for a job. But in 26 years, things have drastically changed.
We see a lot of push from Liberal-National government to have less support from migrants. There have been a lot of cuts, citizenship issues, high level English test, so things have changed a lot.
Migrants come to Australia are looking for a better chance in life but they contribute so much to the country. As politicians, we must see how they are helping Australia."
Ms Faruqi will deliver her first speech at the Senate on Tuesday 21st August at 5pm.
