Daijiworld Media Network - Melbourne
Melbourne, Nov 25: A political storm erupted in Australia on Tuesday after Senator Pauline Hanson, leader of the One Nation party, was suspended from Parliament for the remainder of the year for wearing a burqa inside the Senate chamber in what many lawmakers condemned as a “disrespectful stunt.”
The 71-year-old senator entered the chamber on Monday draped in a full-body burqa to protest the Senate’s refusal to take up her bill seeking a nationwide ban on the burqa and other full-face coverings in public spaces. The act prompted immediate uproar, leading to her suspension for the day.
With no apology forthcoming, the Senate moved decisively on Tuesday, passing a censure motion that barred Hanson from seven consecutive sitting days—effectively removing her until Parliament reconvenes in February. The penalty is among the strongest disciplinary actions taken against a senator in recent decades.
Speaking to reporters afterward, Hanson defended her protest, calling the Senate’s response “hypocritical.”
“They refused to ban the burqa, yet denied me the right to wear it on the floor of Parliament. There’s no dress code in Parliament, so why am I not allowed?” she argued, adding that she would ultimately be answerable “to voters in 2028, not my colleagues.”
This is not Hanson’s first burqa demonstration; she caused a similar uproar in 2017 but escaped any punishment at the time.
Government Senate leader Penny Wong—who is not Muslim—introduced the censure motion, stating that Hanson had “mocked and vilified an entire faith” practiced by nearly one million Australians.
“Sen. Hanson’s hateful and shallow pageantry tears at our social fabric and makes Australia weaker,” Wong said, warning of the harm such actions inflict, especially on vulnerable communities and schoolchildren.
Pakistan-born Senator Mehreen Faruqi, one of only two Muslim senators alongside Afghanistan-born Fatima Payman, said Hanson’s conduct underscored the need to confront “structural and systemic racism” in the country. Payman, who wears a hijab, called Hanson’s actions “disgraceful” and “a shame.”
Hanson is already appealing a court ruling from last year that found she violated racial anti-discrimination laws after telling Faruqi in a social media post to “return to her homeland.”
Rateb Jneid, president of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, condemned Tuesday’s incident, saying Hanson’s continued use of such theatrics “vilified Muslims, migrants and minorities.”
The Senate year ends Thursday, leaving Hanson out until Parliament returns in February—yet the political and social debate she reignited is certain to continue.