Thread by @workmanalice

Dr @MehreenFaruqi, the first female Muslim senator, is about to give her first speech in the @AuSenate less than a week after Fraser Anning praised the White Australia policy and endorsed a ban on Muslim immigration.

"We are gathered today on stolen land."

Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi kicks off her first speech with a bang.

Faruqi: There is still a reluctance among many to acknowledge that we are a settler colonial society. It is a simple fact. Aus is a nation built on the invasion & colonisation of sovereign nations. It surprises & saddens me that that this reality is still denied, often vehemently

Faruqi: It is my belief that there must be a First Nations voice enshrined in the constitution and a truth telling about history.

A treaty that recognises the continuing occupation, acknowledges their sovereignty and respects their right to self-determination.

Faruqi mentions the Greens "dream team here in parliament".

Faruqi says she joined the Greens in 2003, after watching Bob Brown and Kerry Nettle confront George Bush in Parliament about "his lies about the war on Iraq".

Faruqi says she arrived as a migrant in early 1992 from Pakistan when Paul Keating was the Prime Minister, the economy was in “the recession we had to have”, and Australia and New Zealand were about to host their first ever Cricket World Cup (which Pakistan won)

Faruqi: The country I came to felt, in many ways, like an egalitarian society where ordinary people tended to be treated with dignity and respect. But, the more I learned about Australia, the more I was troubled by our treatment of Aboriginal people.

Faruqi: a gentle warning: I bring to this chamber my track record in shaking things up and shifting the agenda on issues as diverse as decriminalising
abortion, drug law reform, the right to die with dignity and protecting our
environment.

Faruqi says she has come from the Upper House of NSW Parliament, "which is sometimes said to be the most powerful legislative chamber in the country". #factcheck

"A culture of online harassment, bullying and toxicity now targets everyone who is not a straight white man... I have been at the receiving end of thousands of racist and sexist messages – on social media, on the phone and as handwritten letters." @MehreenFaruqi

@MehreenFaruqi "We cannot be expected to ignore sustained abuse or be told to hide the fear & gutwrenching pain that it causes. If we receive death threats & speak out about it as my son did earlier this month we are told we have a victim mentality & this is all part and parcel of public life"

"The reality is that my presence in the Senate is an affront for some. They are
offended that people of colour, and Muslims, have the audacity to not only exist, but to open our mouths and join the public debate." @MehreenFaruqi

@MehreenFaruqi Faruqi: I stand here before you unapologetically - a brown, Muslim, migrant, feminist woman.

For some, we will never be Australian enough. But how can I be Australian enough? Do I need to point to my love of cricket?

I should note that Fraser Anning isn't in the chamber for Faruqi's first speech.

Neither is Pauline Hanson. But Peter Georgiou is.

Faruqi:

To those who want me to F off back to where I came from, I say:

Mazarrat chahiti hoon, magar afsoas nahin. Yeh maira ghar hai aur mein kaheen naheen jaon gee.

Sorry, not sorry. This is my home and I’m not going anywhere.