Senator Faruqi
31 Senator Faruqi was born in Lahore, Pakistan in 1963. She is Muslim. I infer that she was born into a Muslim family although she was educated at a private Catholic school in Lahore. Senator Faruqi's father studied at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in the 1950s.
32 In 1988, Senator Faruqi graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) degree at the University of Engineering and Technology in Lahore. She commenced work as a structural engineer with a firm of consulting engineers in Pakistan, holding that position until 1992. In the meanwhile, in 1989 she married Omar Faruqi. The couple have two children, a son who was born in Pakistan and a younger daughter who was born in Australia.
33 In 1992, the family emigrated from Pakistan and settled in Sydney, initially with permanent residency. Senator Faruqi has resided in Australia since then. She became an Australian citizen in 1994.
34 In 1994, Senator Faruqi completed a Master of Engineering Science, Environmental Management, Solid and Hazardous Water Management at UNSW. In 2000, she completed a Doctorate in Environmental Engineering, Wastewater Management and Energy Recovery at UNSW.
35 Between 1999 and 2013, Senator Faruqi worked in various positions consistent with her qualifications in engineering, including as a consulting engineer, for local councils and in academia.
36 In 2004, Senator Faruqi became a member of the political party, The Greens NSW. She ran unsuccessfully as a candidate for the Legislative Assembly seat of Heffron in 2011 and in a by-election in 2012. In 2013, Senator Faruqi was elected to the NSW Legislative Council, becoming the first Muslim woman to be a member of any Australian Parliament. She held that position until August 2018 when she resigned to enter federal politics.
37 On 20 August 2018, Senator Faruqi was sworn in as a Senator for NSW in the Federal Parliament. In doing so, she became the first female Muslim Senator. In order to be eligible for the Senate, Senator Faruqi had to, and did, renounce her Pakistani citizenship. Senator Faruqi holds the "Republic" portfolio for the Greens.
38 Senator Faruqi gave evidence of her experience of racism in Australia before the events at the centre of this case. She spoke of a number of incidents over the years in which she was made to
