Fatima Payman’s Gen Z Slang Speech Deemed ‘Brain Rot’

This Fatima Payman, Generation Z’s Slang refers to a speech given by an Australian senator in September 2024, full of slang terms used by Generation Z and Alpha. It received mixed reviews from people of all ages and sparked a discussion about whether the politician had reached or turned off young voters.

While some target groups praised Payman for reaching out to a voting bloc that is more often ridiculed and scolded, others referred to the incident as the “Australian senator’s brain rot speech,” which only seems to further confuse and enrage older people who don’t know what “brain rot” means.

Who is Senator Fatima Payman?

The young senator has represented Western Australia since 2022. She was born in 1995 in Kabul, Afghanistan, and emigrated to Perth with her family in 2003. Two years ago, she became the third youngest person elected to the Senate and the first person to wear a hijab.

Payman campaigned as a member of the Labour Party on diversity policy, climate change and improving early childhood education. She split from her party in 2024 over the issue of Palestinian statehood and is now an independent.

Fatima Payman’s Generation Z Slang Broken

The gist of Payman’s speech was to accuse the Australian government of talking too much about the cost of living crisis without taking any action, being dishonest on taxation and failing to properly address the concerns of younger generations. She also encouraged these populations to vote when they come of age.

In the process, she used a long list of slang terms unfamiliar to the vast majority of people over 30. She called the government “goofy ahh” as well as “capa-holics” and “yap-aholics.”

“I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the opps who want to cut the Gyatts tax and the service tax in Western Australia,” she said. “The decision voters will make in a few months is between a middle-tier government, a dog-eat-dog opposition or smaller parties and independents who will mix it up with both.”

She ended her speech with the words, “Skibidi.”

Full text of Senator Payman’s speech:

To the sigmas of Australia I say that this stupid government ahh has been imposing restrictions, not just now but for a long time. Some of you may remember them saying, “There will be no fanum tax under the government I lead.”

They are capaholics. They are also yapaholics. They babble on and on about how their cost-of-living measures are changing the lives of all Australians. Just put the chips in the bag, little bro.

They tell us they are locked into improving the housing situation in this country. They must have brain rot from watching too much Kai Cenat and have forgotten about their plans to ban social media for children under 14.

If this becomes law, you can “ignore the skull emoji” in connection with watching Duke Dennis or watching the dub with your mates at Fort Chat. Is this PM serious?

Despite being the Prime Minister of Australia, he sometimes seems like the CEO of Ohio. I would have taken the L if I hadn’t mentioned the opps who want to cut the gyatts tax and service tax in Western Australia.

In a few months, voters will have to decide whether to support a mid-level government, the opposition or candidates from the independent benches who will mix both.

While some of you can’t vote yet, I hope that when you do, it will be in a goatier Australia, for a government with more aura. Skibidi!

Who actually wrote this nonsense speech?

Payman would be classified by most generational definitions as a very young millennial, two years too old to be a Gen Zer. So it’s no surprise that a much younger political assistant who happens to be a Zoomer wrote her speech.

The author of the speech is 21-year-old Ezra Isma, who claims that he uses the terms with which he filled the speech only sometimes – and even then he uses them only ironically.

Memes and reactions

This isn’t the first time a politician has tried to appeal to a younger demographic by peppering a speech with teen slang, and it’s a strategy that rarely works. Older generations are usually turned off after years of complaining about strange and unfamiliar language, while the target often finds it disingenuous at best.

@vahitran

I’m moving to Australia 🦘

♬ original sound – Guy Cooper

Zoomers and Gen Alpha call Payman’s attempt at this trick “the Australian senator’s brain rot speech.” Brain rot in modern slang refers to any content that has little or no content or value, so little that it degrades the mind. This can lead to a negative feedback loop where the viewer seeks out more worthless content due to this brain “rot,” and it gets worse.

The speech quickly found its way into the brainrot meme subcategory, including the TikTok soundbite, a lot of hate on Reddit, and a lot of cringe on X (formerly Twitter). Some young TikTok users seem to be bothered by the fact that they understood the speech perfectly.

@poholifts

Well, what is this sigma?

♬ original sound – Fatima Payman

@blucynfluffs #bluey #brainrot #fyp ♬ original sound – 6 News Australia

@muzzymane

my screen time isn’t that bad

♬ original sound – Fatima Payman

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