Pauline Hanson learns fate over burqa stunt
Pauline Hanson has learned her fate over her burqa stunt, as pictures confirm Canberra’s worst-kept secret.
Pauline Hanson has been banned from the Senate for seven days after her decision to wear a burqa and high heels on the floor of Parliament.
The new penalty follows her earlier suspension of 24 hours and being censured by the Senate.
The One Nation leader has insisted she only wore the outfit after the Senate barred her from moving a bill to ban face coverings.
“I have stood up for the Jewish people of this community. I’m not Jewish, but the way they were treated by some of the people in this chamber and the Greens… That wasn’t pulled up at all,” she said.
At the end of her speech, Penny Wong moved that she be suspended from the Senate for seven days which was supported.
Addressing the chamber after the vote, Senator Hanson denied any wrongdoing.
“Yesterday, I put up a Bill ... to amend the criminal code amendment to ban the burqa and full face coverings in public places,” she said.
“I was denied that right. I had the right by the Senate to move my Bill, to actually debate it on the floor of parliament.
“You denied me and the people of Australia to have that voice.
“You chose to shut it down.”
Senator Hanson went on to claim she had been targeted “a number of times”.
“You dare question me over my respect for this place,” she said.
“The senators in this place have no respect for the Australian people when they have an elected member who wants to move something and to represent them and have their say.
“If there’s no concern over banning of the burqa or full face coverings, why did you stop me?
“Why not have the debate? Why not ... put your case forward.”
Thorpe calls for Hanson to undergo racism training
Lidia Thorpe has called Ms Hanson to undergo racism training. As the fallout continues over the protest, the ex-Greens senator has demanded that the One Nation be held to the same treatment that she experienced after she protested against King Charles.
“Senator Hanson should be dealt with in the same way I was dealt with when I told the king off for colonising my country. So she needs to be sanctioned, not just suspended for a couple of hours, and she needs to be held accountable,” she said.
“We can’t be promoting hate speech in this parliament, setting a bad example for the rest of the country. Racism is rife out there on the streets for black and brown people, and we need to tackle that as a nation. And what Senator Hanson did yesterday only exacerbates the problem.”
She called on Parliament to implement the Racial Discrimination Commissioner’s recommendation for all politicians to undergo racism training.
The fallout emerged as Barnaby Joyce confirmed he would make a decision shortly on whether he will jump ship to One Nation.
He also defended Ms Hanson over the burqa stunt insisting too many critics were reaching for the outrage microphone.
“If you want to give someone publicity, just shut them down, and then they’ve got all the publicity they want,” Mr Joyce said.
“[We wouldn’t be] having this conversation if those senators in the chamber allowed Pauline Hanson to put forward her private members bill. But by shutting it down, it’s the reason why she, she, she launched this stunt and this protest and, well, she gets the publicity that she wanted in the first place.”
However, Mr Joyce’s friend and Nationals colleague Matt Canavan criticised his decision to move to One Nation.
“It’s only now that he’s trying to jump ship. He doesn’t see a future in the Nationals party for himself. But that seems to me, to raise the question: is this move from Barnaby about the Australian people, or is it about himself?” he asked.
“It’s turning into a longer saga than Days Of Our Lives, so I think people are all sick and tired of it. It seems to me, there’s already fights before they’ve exchanged vows. So how’s this going to turn out?”
Joyce confirms worst-kept secret
Mr Joyce has confirmed Canberra’s worst-kept secret, dining with One Nation leader Pauline Hanson in a move that confirms he is looking to jump ship from the Nationals.
Just hours after Ms Hanson threw on a burqa and high heels and marched into the Senate sparking chaos, the Queensland senator found time to dine with the former deputy prime minister.
Earlier, Barnaby Joyce defended her right to wear the burqa on free speech grounds, as his soon-to-be colleague Ms Hanson accused critics of a “freak out”.
“The usual hypocrites had an absolute freak out,” she said of her burqa protest.
“The fact is, more than 20 countries around the world have banned the burqa because they recognise it as a tool that oppresses women, poses a national security risk, encourages radical Islam, and threatens social cohesion.
“If these hypocrites don’t want me to wear a burqa, they can always support my ban.”
Timeline for a defection
The former deputy prime minister is expected to defect to MsHanson’s party following disagreements with Nationals leader David Littleproud.
“I just don’t want any circus. I’m trying to wait till the end of the sitting week,” Mr Joyce said on Monday when asked about his political future.
When asked directly whether he would make a move after parliament rises, he said: “I’ll see. If I was doing anything, I’d try and get out of the building.”
Mr Joyce has not been attending Nationals party room meetings. His failure to turn up was “out of respect for his colleagues,” he said, as he weighs his future.
“I don’t think it’s fair for them, or for me, because obviously you become privy to private conversations. They might want to have a private conversation about me.”
‘Shame on you’ – Senate erupts over burqa dress ups
Earlier, Senator Hanson sparked uproar with the burqa protest after the Senate refused a request to table a bill banning religious coverings was denied.
“Shame on you,” Senator Fatima Payman shouted in response.
Greens leader Larissa Waters slammed the move as “racist”.
“Really, what has happened today … is the middle finger to people of faith,” Senator Waters said.
“It is extremely racist and unsafe.”
‘Get her out!
During the melee, Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe shouted “get her out!” as Deputy President Slade Brockman told her to stop speaking.
Senator Payman said the conduct was “disgraceful”.
“It’s absolutely unconstitutional. This needs to be dealt with immediately before we proceed,” she said.
Senator Thorpe then shouted that the Senate was “unsafe” as Greens Senator Mehreen Saeed Faruqi again demanded action.
Senate leader Penny Wong then called for a vote on removing Senator Hanson from the chamber as senators continued to shout “Get her out!”
“We do have many Australians in this country who are adherents of the Islamic faith, and the great majority are law-abiding Australians — good Australians,’’ she said.
Senator Wong added: “All of us in this place have a great privilege in coming into this chamber. And we represent in our states people of every faith, of all backgrounds, and we should do so decently. What we should not do, whatever our views on policy, is be this disrespectful of the chamber and of people of faith.”
‘Hypocrites’: Hanson doubles down
Speaking to news.com.au, Senator Hanson said she stood by her decision and that her critics were “hypocrites”.
“I have a lot of people coming to me saying, ‘Why can they wear the full burqa and I can’t wear a helmet in some places — especially banks?’” she said.
“So the public feels they have been treated totally differently. This has been ongoing for quite some time.
“What happened then was, as soon as I started to introduce the bill, I was shut down.”
“And for Penny Wong to get up and say this is a place where we may have differences in policies — well, that’s an absolute joke, because they won’t accept my policies.
“They shut it down. It’s not having different opinions. It’s either their way or the highway, and I’m pretty fed up with it.
“So if my bill were to ban the burqa, then you wouldn’t have a problem with me wearing one on the floor of Parliament. So it did.”
Senator Hanson said she was not racist.
“Senator Thorpe was saying I’m racist — you know, that’s the pot calling the kettle black, isn’t it?” she said.
“I respect people’s religions, and I adhere to Section 116 of the Australian Constitution about religious observance.
“I’ve had no problem with that, but the burqa is not a religious requirement — and that’s been called out by Islamic clerics. These people don’t assimilate, and it’s controlling women.
“They constantly talk about — the Greens and everyone else — women’s rights. We’re fighting for women’s rights: equal pay, domestic violence, all of it. We’re clearly calling that women’s rights.
“If you ban the burqa, some of these men cannot force their women to wear the burqa.”
Originally published as Pauline Hanson learns fate over burqa stunt
