Australian Senate suspends far-right leader over 'disrespectful' burqa stunt

Australia’s Senate on Tuesday suspended far-right Senator Pauline Hanson for seven sitting days after she wore a burqa to Parliament as a political prop in her campaign to ban the Muslim garment in public, triggering condemnation from lawmakers.

Hanson wore the burqa in the upper house on Monday after she was denied permission to introduce a bill banning burqas and other face coverings in public spaces. Her action quickly drew accusations of racism from Muslim lawmakers.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who leads the centre-left Labor government in the Senate, said: “Senator Hanson’s hateful and shallow pageantry tears at our social fabric and I believe it makes Australia weaker, and it also has cruel consequences for many of our most vulnerable”.

“Senator Hanson mocked and vilified an entire faith, a faith observed by nearly a million Australians … I’ve never seen someone be so disrespectful to (the parliament).”

A motion censuring the One Nation party leader passed 55-5.

One Nation, which has capitalised on rising nationalist sentiment and anti-immigration policies, has expanded its Senate presence to four seats, gaining two in May’s general election. Recent opinion polls have shown support for Hanson and One Nation has further increased.

Hanson said she stood by her views on the burqa and argued there was no dress code for Parliament.

“If you can wear a helmet into the bank or any other venues where they tell you to take it off, why is the burqa any different?” Hanson told reporters in Canberra.

“I’ll stand my ground and what I believe in, I will continue to do so. It will be the people that will judge me.”

A senator for Queensland state, Hanson first rose to prominence in the 1990s because of her strident opposition to immigration from Asia and asylum seekers, and has long campaigned against Islamic clothing.

It is the second time Hanson has worn a burqa in Parliament, repeating a 2017 stunt calling for a nationwide ban on the garment.