Pauline Hanson will not support censure motion against former colleague Fraser Anning

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson will not support a censure motion against her former colleague Fraser Anning.

Outspoken Queensland senator Fraser Anning reacts to being ‘egged’ by a teenager at a function in Melbourne on Saturday. Picture: Facebook

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson will not support a censure motion against her former colleague Fraser Anning next month despite his widely condemned attack on Muslim victims of the Christchurch attacks.

“The politicians will go in there beating their chests. A censure won’t prove a damn thing,” she told the Seven Network’s Sunrise this morning.

“The people will have their say. Not politicians beating their chests about this. He is an elected member of the parliament. He has a voice.”

Senator Hanson, who said she will abstain rather than voting in Senator Anning’s favour, repeated her opposition to Islam, but said she condemned the Christchurch attacks and that she was not a white supremacist.

“What is a censure? It will not prove a damn thing!” — @PaulineHansonOZ says she’ll abstain from a vote to censure Fraser Anning. #auspol pic.twitter.com/Xz3wRsqNO9

— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) March 17, 2019

The Greens will push for “extraordinary” action to be taken against Senator Anning, including legislative change to expel him from federal parliament, as pressure mounts on the Queensland senator over his divisive comments blaming Muslims for the Christchurch terrorist attack.

The government and Labor will move a censure motion against Senator Anning when parliament resumes on April 1 condemning his “inflammatory and divisive comments seeking to attribute blame to victims of a horrific crime and to vilify people on the basis of religion”.

The rare censure motion is a ­serious form of rebuke but does not have any practical outcome, prompting Greens leader Richard Di Natale to declare the parliament must go further.

“We are exploring all options, including amending section 8 of the Privileges Act to allow members of parliament to be expelled by their fellow MPs,” Senator Di Natale told The Australian.

WEB _ NEWs Anning tear

“While politicians should be held responsible for their actions by the voters, in extraordinary circumstances like these where there is a pattern of behaviour that is so far outside acceptable norms, we must be willing to take extra­ordinary action to protect the community.”

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said Senator Anning could face racial vilification charges, as well as assault charges for hitting a 17-year-old protestor on Saturday.

“In relation to the Victorian investigation, that will be in relation to the incident with Senator Anning and the young man, so that’s separate,” he told ABC radio.

“If there is an incident otherwise, or language otherwise, that gives rise to a Commonwealth offence then the Australian Federal Police will investigate that.”

Mr Dutton also said his Greens critics are “as bad as Fraser Anning” after NSW Senator Mehreen Faruqi said this morning the government had given a “wink and a nod” to white supremacy in the past.

“One of the regrets I have is that we give attention or a spotlight to people like Fraser Anning, or like this senator as well, and another who has been critical has been (Greens leader) Richard Di Natale,” he told ABC radio.

“The comments that she’s made, and the desire to extract some sort of political attention-seeking or advantage is appalling.

“I’m hardly going to take morals lectures from the extreme left who are, frankly, as bad in these circumstances as Fraser Anning.

“People on the left don’t like me because of Operation Sovereign Borders, that’s fine ... their dislike of me, they will seek an opportunity.

“I’m hardly going to take morals lectures from the extreme left who are, frankly, as bad in these circumstances as Fraser Anning.”

Senator Faruqi is the only Muslim senator in parliament.

Scott Morrison and Bill Shorten rejected changing the act, which prohibits either the Senate or the House of Representatives from expelling a parliamentarian.

“The Australian people rightly hold the ultimate power about who sits in our parliament and they’ll soon get to have their say,” a government spokesman said.

“Parliamentarians are elected by Australians to serve Australians — the power to elect and remove must always rest with them.”

A Labor spokesman added: “When the parliament returns, we will be censuring Senator Anning, then we are confident the Queensland people will remove him from office soon after.”

Senator Anning sparked international outrage on Friday when he attributed the Christchurch attack by an Australian right-wing extremist to New Zealand’s immigration program “which allowed Muslim fanatics to migrate”.

A change.org petition calling for his removal from parliament had more than 800,000 signatures last night, while on Saturday a 17-year-old boy smashed an egg on Senator Anning’s head in protest.

Senator Anning hit and punched the teenager.

In response, Mr Morrison said the senator must face the “full force of the law”.

Australia’s Muslim community called on the parliament to introduce and enforce a code of conduct following Senator Anning’s “repulsive and outrageous” remarks as the first bodies of the 50 Christchurch victims were returned to their loved ones.

In a strongly worded letter being sent to Senate President Scott Ryan, the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils president, Rateb Jneid, said Senator Anning’s words “bring shame to your house, the whole parliament, and must call in to question his fitness to be a member”.

“On behalf of the Muslim community of this country, we demand that the senator be censured to the full extent allowable under the rules of the house and some formal code of conduct introduced to avert such despicable behaviour in the future,” Dr Jneid wrote.

Mr Shorten said the egging was a “mug thing to do” as it put Senator Anning in the spotlight, but also hit out at the “right-wingers” who crash-tackled and held down the egg-thrower.

Mr Shorten attacked nameless “extreme-right politicians” for perpetuating hatred in Australia.

Victoria Police is investigating the egg-throwing incident, including Senator Anning’s actions and those of his supporters.

With Joe Kelly