Fraser Anning faces censure motion in Senate

As Fraser Anning returns to parliament with “no remorse” for his Christchurch comments, he has been torn to shreds by politicians on both sides of the Ditch.

Trade Minister Simon Birmingham has lashed Fraser Anning calling out the rogue Australian politician for having “a lack of basic humanity”.

Mr Birmingham’s comments come ahead of debate on a humiliating censure vote against Anning in the Senate.

In a series of tweets immediately following the Christchurch terrorist attack, Senator Anning blamed Muslim immigration for the murder of 50 Muslims at Friday prayers.

During Question Time in the Senate on Tuesday, Anning asked Mr Birmingham if the Government stood by comments by the Prime Minister Scott Morrison that he, and not the teen who cracked an egg on his head, should “face the full force of the law”?

Mr Birmingham replied the right to free speech came responsibilities.

“The way in which you have conducted yourself you have shown a lack of compassion; you have shown a basic lack of basic humanity”.

Trade Minister Simon Birmingham lashed out at Fraser Anning. Picture: AAP Image/Mick Tsikas.

When Anning insisted that the egg incident was an attack, Senator Birmingham said while no one should be the subject of a violence, he admonished his fellow politician for concentrating on that rather than the massacre of 50 people.

“We trust the people of Queensland deal with you the way you deserve to be dealt with at the next election”.

Earlier today, New Zealand’s Acting Prime Minister Winston Peters made his own feelings about Anning clear calling him a “moron”.

“I could call him a four-flushing, jingoistic moron, but you already know that in Australia,” Mr Peters told Sky News this morning.

“He is a national, absolute, democratic aberration. We all know why he’s there. He’s there by pure accident.

“It means you have to clean up your political system to avoid that sort of person making it into politics.”

New Zealand’s parliament is dealing with Jacinda Ardern’s proposal for stricter gun laws today. Meanwhile, our own Senate will address Mr Anning’s response to the Christchurch terror attack, which Mr Peters called “a disgrace”.

When Mr Anning arrived at parliament today, he said he had “no remorse” for his comments.

“I merely pointed out that immigration from Muslim countries invariably escalates terror attacks,” Mr Anning said.

“I was never blaming the victims.”

New Zealand’s Winston Peters. Picture: AFP

Fraser Anning. Picture: The Australian

Mr Anning issued a statement within hours of the attack — which targeted mosques and left 50 people dead — blaming it on Muslim immigration.

His comments were condemned across the political spectrum. A petition calling for Mr Anning to be removed from parliament drew more than a million signatures.

However, the Senate does not have the power to expel him. Instead, the Coalition and Labor have drawn up a bipartisan motion censuring Mr Anning, which will be introduced either today or tomorrow.

The Senate convenes at midday, and will start with the swearing in of three new senators. After that, there will be a condolence motion for the Christchurch attack.

Then, if there is time before Question Time at 2pm, the government’s Senate leader Mathias Cormann will introduce the censure motion.

Even if the motion is introduced, the matter will not be fully dealt with today. The Senate is likely to vote on it tomorrow morning.

Mr Anning has called the censure attempt a “blatant attack on free speech”.

Mr Peters’ assertion that Mr Anning got into parliament “by pure accident” is a reference to the fact that just 19 people voted for him at the 2016 election.

RELATED: How Anning was elected with 0.00 per cent

Anning was a Senate candidate for One Nation at that election, and the party performed particularly well in his state, Queensland, with 9 per cent of the vote.

Senator Fraser Anning. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

In total, 250,000 Queenslanders voted for the party’s ticket. Far fewer went to the trouble of voting for a specific candidate, but the result was strong enough to earn the party two Senate seats.

The first one went to Pauline Hanson, who personally drew 21,000 first-preference votes. Malcolm Roberts was second on the ticket.

He served in the Senate until it emerged he was a British citizen. The High Court ruled him ineligible, along with then deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce and three others, and he was booted from parliament.

Parliament’s rules are clear. If a sitting senator dies or quits during their term in office, they get replaced with another member of their party.

That is how Mr Anning, with his paltry 19 votes, got into parliament. When Mr Roberts was ruled ineligible, One Nation replaced him with Mr Anning, who had been third on the party’s ticket in 2016.

Then, having used One Nation to get into the Senate, Anning quit the party during his very first day on the job.

It infuriated Ms Hanson, who had wanted Anning to relinquish his seat to allow Mr Roberts, his citizenship problem sorted, to return.

“I was disappointed Mr Anning made no attempt to contact me or any One Nation executive member off the back of multiple requests to discuss his future plans,” Ms Hanson said.

“Instead he chose to release scathing media releases, demanding I pledge my support to him without even meeting or speaking to him.”

Mere minutes before he was sworn in, Anning declared he would sit in the Senate as an independent.

He later joined Bob Katter’s party, before being kicked out over his inflammatory comments on immigration.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson. Picture: Liam Kidston

Mr Anning has sparked outrage before, particularly in response to his maiden speech, which called for a “final solution to the immigration problem”.

The phrase “final solution” is closely associated with the Nazis’ systematic murder of Jews during World War II.

“While all Muslims are not terrorists, certainly all terrorists these days are Muslims. So why would anyone want to bring more of them here?” Anning said during the speech.

“The final solution to the immigration problem is of course a popular vote.”

But he reached a new level of infamy after the Christchurch attack.

In the wake of his comments, Mr Anning was egged by a teenager at a public event, in footage that went around the world.

Mr Anning reacted to the egging by turning around and swinging at the boy, 17-year-old Will Connolly.

“He got a slap across the face, which is what his mother should have given him long ago, because he’s been misbehaving badly,” Mr Anning said of the incident.

“When someone cracks you on the back of the head you react and defend yourself.”

RELATED: ‘Egg Boy’ breaks his silence

Mr Connolly later spoke to The Project, admitting there was “no reason to physically attack anyone” ever and his mother was “glad I stood up for what I believe in but she definitely disagrees with the way I did it”.

“I understand what I did was not the right thing to do, however, this egg has united people, and money has been raised, tens of thousands of dollars has been raised for those victims,” he added.

Another controversial senator, Liberal Democrat David Leyonhjelm, has left parliament. The first order of business today is to swear in his replacement David Spender.

Mr Spender, who was Mr Leyonhjelm’s chief of staff, could set a record for the fewest sitting days spent in the Senate.

With an election expected to be called on Sunday, Mr Spender could serve just two days — less time than Charles MacKellar, who lasted eight days in 1903 — unless he retains his seat in May.

Liberal Wendy Askew and Labor’s Raff Ciccone will also be sworn in, replacing David Bushby and Jacinta Collins, respectively.