Australian Muslim legislator Fatima Payman has filed a formal complaint with a parliamentary watchdog after a male colleague was accused of urging her to drink alcohol and ‘dance on the table’ at a formal event. In Payman’s account, the incident occurred after the male colleague had ‘had too many drinks’.
In an interview with ABC, the senator, who is 30 years old, remembered that the senior colleague said to her, “Let’s get some wine into you and see you dance on the table.” She replied bluntly, “Hey I’m drawing a line mate,” and then lodged the formal complaint. The lawmaker involved and when the incident occurred have not been publicly disclosed.
Payman, a teetotaler, was born in Afghanistan and became the first Australian senator to don a hijab in 2022. She represents Western Australia and was initially elected as a Labor senator. But in 2024, she defected as an independent senator due to differing opinions with the government’s response to the Gaza war. In the same year, she founded her own political party, Australia’s Voice, in October.
Her Australian political career started after she moved to Perth in 2003. Her father had previously come as a boat refugee in 1999. She has a Bachelor of Arts and a Graduate Diploma of Pharmaceutical Science from the University of Western Australia. Payman was an electorate officer, pharmacy assistant, and organizer with the United Workers Union before joining the Senate.
