marywollstonecraft
DP Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2009
- Messages
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- Gender
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this woman is a member of the Greens party, a party which has advocated for same sex marriage and wouldn't at first glance, seem to be the party you would expect to find a muslim associated with...but like she says, being muslim is only one aspect of who she is. She sees marriage equality as a human rights issue, and she also describes herself as a feminist.she also makes the point that she believes that she is the first environmental engineer in the NSW parliament .... which may be just as relevant - if not more so - than her religion.
First Muslim woman in NSW parliamentMehreen Faruqi says there will be no conflict between faith and politics when she becomes the first Muslim woman in any parliament in Australia.
Dr Faruqi will replace NSW upper house MP Cate Faehrmann when she resigns from NSW politics in June to run for a seat in the Senate.
Dr Faruqi won the Greens preselection late on Saturday following a postal ballot from among a field of seven women-only candidates, in another first for the party.
The move makes Dr Faruqi the first Muslim woman appointed to any parliament in Australia, the party said.
While she will be advocating for Islamic-sensitive issues such as same-sex marriage in her new role, there would be no potential conflict of ideas, Dr Faruqi said.
"We live in a secular society in Australia and for me (same-sex marriage) is an issue of human rights and quite easily justifiable.
"It's the law of the land that I will be pursuing in parliament and that's how I will be talking to my community as well."
She migrated from Pakistan with her family in 1992. Dr Faruqi describes herself as an "environmental engineer, climate change and education activist, proud union member and feminist".
She said her Islamic faith was only "one element" of her background.
"I am proud of my culture and heritage but I'm also proud of my professional achievements.
"I believe I might be the first environmental engineer in the NSW parliament as well."
Dr Faruqi said her appointment was a "very progressive" move for Australia, and she would seek to build stronger relationships with migrant communities in her new role.
"We do need a spectrum of diverse politicians in Australian parliaments who can represent our communities.
"It shows the world that we really value multiculturalism."