Greens deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi has shared the personal motivations behind her family's emigration from Pakistan to Australia in 1992, citing a desire for a more equitable society and a need to escape rising corruption.
Faruqi recounted to Annabel Crabb on ABC's Kitchen Cabinet that the late 1980s and early 1990s in Pakistan saw a surge in corruption that concerned her and her husband, Omar. "I don't think we want our kid to have to deal with this, to fight a system," she stated, explaining their decision to seek a different environment for their young son.
Upon arriving in Australia with limited possessions, the couple held optimistic views of their new country. "We started with very rose-coloured glasses, I guess, very eager to make this new country our home. And we have. It is our home," Faruqi said.
Despite being encouraged to migrate due to a shortage of civil engineers, Faruqi and her husband faced unexpected employment challenges. "When we got here, the situation was really different," she recalled, noting that employers often cited a lack of local experience as a barrier to hiring them. During this period, her husband worked as a taxi driver for a year while Faruqi pursued postgraduate studies.
The family eventually relocated from Sydney to Port Macquarie after seeing advertised engineering positions at the local council. Faruqi noted they may have been the first individuals of color hired by the council in its 150-year history.
Faruqi's involvement in local environmental and refugee support groups in New South Wales eventually led her to join the Greens. She was elected to the NSW Parliament as an Upper House member in 2013, a time when state politics was dealing with multiple corruption scandals. Faruqi observed that in her first year in the NSW Parliament, "there were 11 MPs who had to leave Parliament or go back on the backbench because of corruption charges."
Faruqi has since become a prominent figure in Australian politics, ascending to the role of Deputy Leader of the Federal Greens in 2022. Her public profile has also made her a target of criticism, notably from One Nation leader Pauline Hanson. In 2022, Hanson made remarks that were later found by the Federal Court to have breached the Racial Discrimination Act, an outcome upheld after Hanson's appeal was dismissed.