Mehreen Faruqi

Faruqi was re-elected in the 2019 federal election, securing 8.7% of the state's vote, with a swing of 1.32% in her favour.

In February 2018, Faruqi attempted to block the Christian Friends of Israeli Communities from hosting an event on the basis of Israel's settlement policy in the West Bank

Faruqi resigned her position in the parliament after giving her farewell speech on 14 August 2018.

On 25 November 2017, Faruqi defeated incumbent New South Wales Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon in a pre-selection contest for the first spot on the NSW Greens Senate ballot at the 2019 federal election. Rhiannon resigned her Senate position on 15 August 2018 and on the same day Faruqi was appointed to fill the vacant seat by a joint sitting of the New South Wales Parliament. She was sworn in on 20 August 2018, becoming the first female Muslim senator in Australian history.

Faruqi is a vocal pro-choice advocate, introducing the first parliamentary bill to decriminalise abortion in New South Wales in June 2014. Faruqi is also an advocate for public transport and environmental sustainability. In March 2014, she successfully moved a motion in parliament ordering the release of all government documents relating to the creation of the business case for the WestConnex motorway. This uncovered evidence of the NSW government's plan for mass outsourcing of public service work and uncertainty among WestConnex staff and advisers on the viability of the project.

Faruqi joined the Greens in 2004 in Port Macquarie and ran as a candidate for the Legislative Assembly seat of Heffron in 2011 and at the 2012 by-election. She was chosen to replace Cate Faehrmann in the Legislative Council in 2013, becoming the first Muslim woman to be a member of an Australian parliament. Her term in the Council began on 19 June 2013.

Faruqi was born in Lahore, Pakistan. Her father, a civil engineer, was a professor at the University of Engineering and Technology (UET) in Lahore and she grew up on the UET campus. She graduated from UET with a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) degree in 1988, and subsequently worked as a structural engineer. Her older brothers, younger sister, husband, and father-in-law are also civil engineers. Faruqi and her husband Omar moved to Sydney in 1992, where she began attending the University of New South Wales (UNSW); her father had previously studied there under the Colombo Plan in the 1950s. She completed a Master of Engineering Science degree in 1994, and later received a doctorate in environmental engineering in 2000. Faruqi moved to Port Macquarie in 2001, but moved back to Sydney in 2006. She and her husband have two children together, including Osman Faruqi, a political journalist at Junkee.

Mehreen Saeed Faruqi (born 8 July 1963) is an Australian politician who has been a Senator for New South Wales since 15 August 2018, representing the Greens. She was chosen to fill a casual vacancy caused by the resignation of Lee Rhiannon. She had previously served in the New South Wales Legislative Council between June 2013 and August 2018.