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Mehreen Saeed Faruqi ( born 8 July 1963) is a Pakistani-born Australian politician and former engineer who has been a federal 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, before being elected in her own right in 2019. She had previously served in the New South Wales Legislative Council between June 2013 and August 2018. Since June 2022, Faruqi has served as Deputy Leader of the Australian Greens.
They moved to Sydney in 1992 as skilled economic migrants, where she began attending the University of New South Wales (UNSW); her father had previously studied there under the Colombo Plan in the 1950s. Greens' Mehreen Faruqi an engineer with a vision of diversity, The Sydney Morning Herald, 1 February 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2017. She completed a Master of Engineering Science degree in 1994, and later received a doctorate in environmental engineering in 2000, with her doctoral thesis titled "Intensification of anaerobic lagoons for abattoir wastewater treatment and biogas recovery". 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.
Faruqi was one of three MPs in the 46th Parliament of Australia who graduated from high school outside Australia (the others being Gladys Liu and Kristina Keneally), and one of eleven MPs who possessed a PhD (the others being Katie Allen, Fiona Martin, Anne Aly, Andrew Leigh, Daniel Mulino, Jess Walsh, Adam Bandt, Jim Chalmers, Anne Webster and Helen Haines).
At the time she was appointed to the New South Wales parliament, she was Academic Director of the Master of Business and Technology Program and an associate professor at the Australian Graduate School of Management for UNSW.
In parliament, Faruqi held several portfolios for The Greens NSW: Animal Welfare, Drugs and Harm Minimisation, Environment, Lower Mid North Coast, Multiculturalism, Roads & Ports, Status of Women, Transport, Western Sydney, and Young People.
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.
In February 2018, Faruqi attempted to block the Christian Friends of Israeli Communities from hosting an event at the Parliament of New South Wales as they fund illegal Israel settlements in the West Bank.
Faruqi resigned her position in the parliament after giving her farewell speech on 14 August 2018.
Faruqi was re-elected in the 2019 federal election, securing 8.7% of the state's vote, with a swing of 1.32 points in her favour.
Faruqi has been a prominent critic of Section 44 of the Australian Constitution, which requires federal parliamentary candidates to renounce any foreign citizenship. She has spoken about the emotional difficulty of giving up her Pakistani citizenship to stand for Parliament, describing it as "severing off connections from my history," and has argued that such requirements restrict diversity in Australian politics.
In Parliament, Faruqi has been a noted critic of horse racing and greyhound racing in Australia. In 2021, Faruqi released a Horse Racing Transition Plan on Twitter, and in 2023 proposed repurposing 'racetracks for green spaces and community facilities'. Faruqi has been widely criticised by figures within the racing industry for her opposition to horse and greyhound racing.
Following the 2022 federal election, Faruqi was elected as the Deputy Leader of the Australian Greens.
Following the death of Elizabeth II, Faruqi stated "I cannot mourn the leader of a racist empire built on stolen lives, land and wealth of colonised peoples" as she called for a republic. Faruqi was subject to racial abuse over the comments. In September 2022, Pauline Hanson tweeted that Faruqi should "piss off back to Pakistan". Subsequently, Faruqi decided to launch court proceedings against Hanson for "breaching section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975". On 1 November 2024 it was reported that Federal Court of Australia judge Angus Stewart had ruled that Hanson's tweet was an "angry personal attack", unconnected with the issues Faruqi raised, and was therefore "anti-Muslim or Islamophobic". Hanson was ordered to delete the tweet and was awarded costs for the entire proceedings. Hanson said that she would appeal the decision.
On 9 October 2023, Faruqi criticised the decision to illuminate Parliament House in the colours of the Israeli flag (blue and white) to show solidarity with the people of Israel in the wake of the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel. Faruqi wrote on Twitter 'One colonial government supporting another. What a disgrace. #FreePalestine'. In response, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese accused Faruqi 'trying to play politics with this issue'. The Australian Jewish News also expressed their disappointment with Faruqi's comments, which were made two days after the initial 7 October attack. Faruqi, referring to the Israeli blockade of Gaza, said "Throwing bombs of white phosphorus is not defending yourself, denying 2.3 million people of food, water, electricity, fuel is not defending yourself." Senator Jordon Steele-John echoed her statements, saying that "It is a complete siege, a textbook definition of collective punishment" and criticised the government failure to condemn Israeli "crime against humanity."
Subsequently, on Monday 6 November 2023, Faruqi led her Greens colleagues in a Senate walkout, protesting the Albanese government's refusal to call for a ceasefire to the Gaza war. Faruqi described the Albanese government as "gutless, heartless, cowards." She stated that "You are watching the massacre of thousands of Palestinians by Israel, and you are not condemning Israel, you refuse to call for an immediate ceasefire," to which Labor Senator Don Farrell responded that Faruqi and her colleagues were 'making hay' out of the tragic situation. Faruqi later stated it was "disgraceful" and "despicable" of Farrell to frame the Greens' calls for a ceasefire as a "political play".
Faruqi was returned as Deputy Greens Leader following the 2025 Australian Federal Election, under new party leader Larissa Waters. In July 2025, Faruqi held a sign which called for sanctions on Israel and referred to the humanitarian situation in Gaza at the opening of parliament, while she asked Prime minister Albanese to sanction Israel. The Senate later sanctioned her protest and banned Faruqi from partaking in any parliamentary overseas delegations during the 48th parliament. In August 2025, Faruqi attended and spoke at the March for Humanity in Sydney, a large protest highlighting the plight of Palestinians in the Gaza conflict.
Career
Engineering career
Before her appointment to the Legislative Council, Faruqi had a 25-year career as a professional engineer and academic. She worked in positions in local government, consulting firms and higher education institutions in Australia and internationally. These included roles such as Manager of Environment and Services at Mosman Council, Manager of Natural Resources and Catchments for Port Macquarie-Hastings Council, and as the Director of the Institute of Environmental Studies at UNSW.
State politics
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.
Federal politics
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.
Key published works
Awards
Personal life
, Faruqi owned three properties in Australia and a 500-square-metre block of land in Lahore. The properties consisted of a family home and two declared investment properties.
External links
Categories: Living People, Australian Greens Members Of The Parliament Of New South Wales, Members Of The New South Wales Legislative Council, Australian Greens Members Of The Parliament Of Australia, Australian Feminists, Women Members Of The Australian Senate, Members Of The Australian Senate For New South Wales, University Of Engineering And Technology, Lahore Alumni, University Of New South Wales Alumni, Academic Staff Of The University Of New South Wales, Pakistani Emigrants To Australia, Politicians From Lahore, Australian People Of Punjabi Descent, Australian Politicians Of Pakistani Descent, Australian Civil Engineers, 21st-century Australian Women Politicians, Women Members Of The New South Wales Legislative Council, 1963 Births, Australian Republicans, Australian Muslims, Australian Environmental Engineers
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