It was a moment of celebration for Lucy Gichuhi's family in her Parliament House office after the senator delivered her maiden speech.
During her address, Senator Gichuhi reflected on her journey from her home country in Kenya, to becoming an Australian politician.
"Thank you, Mr President. Today, I, Lucy Marie Gichuhi, humbly stand before you as the first black African-born senator in the history of Australia. (hear, hear ...) I am deeply honoured to be given the privilege of serving the people of Australia as a senator. To all Australians, I say, 'Thank you.'"
The Senator then laid out the main political issues she is passionate about.
"There are some key things that I hope to focus on in my term in office as a senator. These are education in a broader sense, family finance and welfare, senior affairs and aged care, freedom of thought, conscience and belief."
Senator Gichuhi said Australia's diversity is a strength and should be embraced.
"Whoever we are, whatever we call ourselves, whatever we come from, it is this great asset of diversity that made me fall in love with Australia. The diversity of colour, race, cultural background and allegiance goes towards making up what we believe it is to be Australian. We are all Australians."
Lucy Gichuhi is in the Senate after the High Court ruled former Family First senator Bob Day was invalid.
As number two on the party ticket, Senator Gichuhi was found to be the next eligible candidate.
But she rejects being called the "accidental senator."
"I don't call it accidental, I call it preparation. And when you are preparing, and preparation meets opportunity, that is the intersection we deliver as 'accidental,' 'luck.' But there's nothing accidental or, you know, luck about putting up your hand to be on a ticket, which is where all this started."
Her preparation has come in the form of deciding at age 50 to do a law degree and then being an intern in Bob Day's office.
She says Australia has become even more diverse since she arrived in Adelaide with her husband William and three young daughters in 1999.
And she stresses she loves that aspect of Australia.
"You could have counted the number of black people, African black people, on the street. So many times people came to the office and said, 'Oh, I saw your husband in the market,' just because they had seen another black man. (laughs ...) That is how few black people there were. But 20 years on, oh, I love it. Australia is so beautiful just because of that diversity."
On how Africans are settling in Australia, Senator Gichuhi offers this perspective.
"Those of us who made the choice to migrate always keep that choice, and that makes a whole lot of difference on how you settle, because i know I can always go back home if I choose to. And that gives the freedom of choice. And I'm here because I want to be, and that is very empowering in itself."
She says she will be guided by the principle that the government of the day is there to govern.
But Senator Gichuhi says she does not want to say which way she will vote on, for example, the citizenship laws until she has studied them.
"I always know, in my mind, that citizenship for migrants is not a right, it is a privilege."
Senator Gichuhi says she also does not yet want to give her views on same-sex marriage and whether it should be decided by parliament or via a plebiscite.
Share
