Her words echoed through the Senate.
Quoting a predecessor, she vowed to strike "a balance between observing traditions and protocol and being thoroughly contemporary".
"I will remain alive to changing expectations and needs, whilst holding fast to respect for the role and its place in our peaceful democracy," she continued.
Before arriving in the Senate, she had forged a pioneering path that was again being lauded on this day.
As Samantha Mostyn, the mould-breaking business leader, delivered her first speech as Australia's 38th governor-general, the contrast with another first couldn't be starker.
Senator Fatima Payman had once been held up by her Labor colleagues, praised for representing a modern face of both Australia and the party she had been elected to represent as Labor's first Muslim senator and first to wear hijab in the parliament.
Sitting in the Senate on Monday watching Mostyn speak, Payman was fresh from defying party bosses over recognising a Palestinian state and vowing she'd do it again, and feeling "exiled" and facing intimidation from Labor people who wanted her to quit politics.
As Payman listened, it was clear the support Labor had for Mostyn's vows to be a "thoroughly contemporary" figurehead were not being extended to her.
By the week's end, Payman would no longer be a Labor senator. But she did not quit the parliament, instead making official her move to the crossbench.
The tale of Fatima Payman and Labor has twisted and turned in the past week.
When she broke with 130-year-old party rules and crossed the floor last week, the deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, initially spoke of there being "no intention to see any consequences" against Payman. Labor politicians spoke of hoping to welcome Payman back into the party fold.
That changed on Sunday when Payman told the ABC's Insiders program she'd do it again. Within hours, she cut a lonely figure as she walked into The Lodge, having been summoned by Anthony Albanese to his prime ministerial residence, to be told she'd been indefinitely suspended.
Loading...As this week dragged on, it became ever clearer that Labor no longer had room for Payman, with the briefing and leaking against her becoming more widespread. On Wednesday, the PM went as far as to suggest Payman had been plotting her departure for more than a month.
If he could jettison Payman from the good ship HMAS Albanese, the PM would have hoped he could end the now weeks-long saga, which has harpooned Labor's efforts to focus on its cost-of-living measures.
Payman, by contrast, offered a silence that proved deafening. Having released a statement on Monday, in which she said she'd been exiled by Labor, Payman was rarely seen.
In the void, there was no shortage of political figures seeking to speak for her. It was alleged she was complicit in a month-long plan to join a political organisation called The Muslim Vote. Payman on Thursday said that was "not true".
Throughout the week, the prime minister's office looked to be in a frenzy, fuelling speculation about Payman's plans. Behind the scenes, his office was desperately trying to ascertain the senator's movements and, more importantly, any planned interviews.
Labor went out of its way to ensure the media was aware that Payman hadn't told Albanese or Senate leader Penny Wong about her plans to cross the floor before she did. Minister Anne Aly broke with party conventions of not publicly commenting on party room deliberations to make clear Payman hadn't spoken up when Labor discussed the Senate motion.
Payman on Thursday said she decided at the last minute that she would cross the floor.
Matters of faith
In announcing her split from Labor, Payman called out those who'd sought to reduce her to just caring about "Muslim issues" because she was a "visibly Muslim woman".
Hours earlier, some of her then-Labor colleagues privately told journalists of their "concern" that Payman was guided by God.
Politicians speaking about their faith is hardly new.
The Lord's Prayer is read in the Senate and House of Representatives each day that parliament meets. Most politicians are sworn in with one hand on a Bible.
Scott Morrison, when prime minister, often spoke of his reliance on prayer as he led Australia through the COVID-19 pandemic. His deputy prime minister, Michael McCormack, spoke of praying for rain when drought had taken hold across the continent.
Neither were met with the scepticism that has bordered on ridicule that Payman, too, might rely on her faith as she navigated what she's called "the most difficult decision of my life".
Labor to face a teal-style challenge
At the last election, Scott Morrison thought Labor's approach to religion was a soft-under belly in outer suburban voters.
Under threat from teal independents, he set his sights on Labor's heartland, where he hoped he could win over religious Australians who have long stuck with the ALP.
The seats Morrison was eyeing were home to some of Labor's biggest names (Jason Clare, Tony Burke, Chris Bowen), where incumbents had been high-profile supporters of same-sex marriage, despite their electorates returning the biggest no votes in the country.
Morrison's strategy fell short and teal wins in once Liberal heartlands helped sweep him from office.
Even if they hadn't had won their seats, the teals would have been a success. Their efforts meant high-profile Liberals had to spend more time back home campaigning than they otherwise would (looking at you Josh Frydenberg), instead of barnstorming the country helping other candidates win.
Labor now is under threat of a teal-style campaign that seeks to capitalise on anger at the party's handling of the Israel-Gaza war — the very war that prompted Payman to quit the party.
In the short term, it's got another issue to contend with in the Senate, where the government doesn't hold a majority: Payman's departure means it's down another number.
LoadingGG to focus on kindness
New Governor-General Mostyn talked of a need for kindness, care and respect when she addressed the Senate.
Senator Payman, from her own account, said she'd experienced anything but.
Labor politicians have disputed this, with Senator Wong telling the Senate she has reached out to Payman to check on her welfare.
But actions of others have at times suggested otherwise. When Payman said she felt she had been exiled, privately the government sought to dismiss that, telling journalists a suspension is a suspension not an exile. The response seemingly missed the point that Payman felt she'd been exiled.
There was, however, one public display of kindness offered in Payman's direction.
With Mostyn's words still ringing in the politicians' ears as they shuffled out of the Senate, cabinet minister Tanya Plibersek wrapped her arm around Payman.
It's likely the last embrace Payman felt from the party she once loved.