'Real and direct harm': Senate censures Fraser Anning for Christchurch comments

The Senate has overwhelmingly voted to censure senator Fraser Anning for his comments blaming the Christchurch terrorist attack on Muslim immigration - remarks that shocked communities in New Zealand and around the world.

No senator opposed the censure of Senator Anning - and so no formal vote was recorded - although One Nation abstained and its senator Peter Georgiou criticised the "political witch-hunt" against his former party colleague.

The rare bipartisan motion was brought by the government's leader in the Senate, Mathias Cormann, and his opposition counterpart Penny Wong, who jointly denounced Senator Anning's comments as "inflammatory and divisive".

The Queensland senator released a statement the day of the Christchurch massacre - an attack on Muslims allegedly perpetrated by a white supremacist Australian gunman - that argued the "real cause of [the] bloodshed" was Muslim immigration.

The remarks drew worldwide condemnation and a swift commitment from the Coalition and Labor to censure Senator Anning when Parliament returned.

Labor's Senate leader Penny Wong during the motion to formally censure Fraser Anning.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

In her contribution, Senator Wong looked beyond Senator Anning's remarks and defended legal protection against hate speech, arguing it could never be tolerated in the name of free speech.

"Hate speech cannot be defended on the grounds of freedom of speech because it is an attack on our democracy, because it inflicts real and direct harm," Senator Wong said.

"Hate speech is inimical to democracy. We can't normalise it through a contest of better ideas."

Senator Cormann slammed Senator Anning for his "appalling comments" and said they were made worse by the nature of the platform he enjoyed as a federal senator.

"Senator Anning's comments were ugly and divisive. They were dangerous and unacceptable for anyone, let alone a member of this place," Senator Cormann said.

Centre Alliance senator Stirling Griff said his greatest regret was when he shook hands with Senator Anning following the latter's maiden speech, as is convention. Senator Anning had invoked the term "final solution" while talking about the "problem" of immigration.

Senator Anning occasionally smirked while being condemned by his colleagues. In a speech, he called the censure motion "left-wing virtue signalling", and said he had "simply told the truth". He also said the government's support for the motion showed how far the Coalition had swung to the left.

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The censure registers the Senate's disapproval of Senator Anning but carries no practical consequence. The Coalition and Labor rejected a push by the Greens to suspend Senator Anning from the chamber altogether, and that motion failed 10 votes to 40.

Senate President Scott Ryan said a decision to suspend Senator Anning would be open to legal challenge unless it was done to stop him from disrupting the proper operation of the Senate.

Senator Anning was declared elected to fill the vacancy left by the disqualification of One Nation's Malcolm Roberts. He immediately left Pauline Hanson's party and briefly joined Katter's Australian Party. His term expires at the imminent election and it is highly unlikely he will be returned.

Senator Mehreen Faruqi called Senator Anning "an absolute disgrace".Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi, who is Muslim, called Senator Anning "an absolute disgrace" and lamented that, while his comments were "shocking", they were not "out of character".

In an emotional speech, Indigenous Labor senator Patrick Dodson said First Nations people knew well that language mattered and could not go unchecked. "We cannot let the stench of racism and hate linger in this chamber," he said.

Senator Pat Dodson said "we cannot let the stench of racism and hate linger in this chamber".Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Australian Conservatives leader Cory Bernardi supported the censure of Senator Anning but opposed other parts of the motion condemning hate speech. He said it was selective and did not deal with hateful speech from the left and the Greens.

Senator Hanson was ill and not present in the Senate on Wednesday.