Senate suspends Pauline Hanson for seven days as One Nation Senator hits back
Pauline Hanson has hit back after being suspended from the Senate over a controversial protest in which she wore a burqa onto the floor of Parliament.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson says she is not bothered Senate colleagues have barred her from the upper house for seven days over her burqa protest.
Fronting media on Tuesday after senators voted to censure her, she vowed she would not be deterred.
“I’m censured. Does it really worry me? No, it doesn’t. For seven days, not at all.” Senator Hanson told reporters.
“I stand my ground and what I believe in, I will continue to do so.
“And you know, it will be the people that will judge me.
“I will be standing for the next election in Queensland, and I will let the people of Queensland judge me, whether I have earned my pays to be re-elected again or not.”
Senator Hanson wore a burqa into the Senate chamber in protest on Monday after her request to table a Bill banning the religious covering was denied.
It was the second time in her decades-long political career that she has worn it in protest of Islamic garments and drew immediate backlash from fellow senators of all political persuasions.
Addressing the chamber on Tuesday, Senator Hanson denied any wrongdoing and accused fellow senators of stymieing debate.
“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.”
During debate over the censure earlier, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Senator Hanson had promoted “prejudice” since entering politics in 1996.
“Senator Hanson has been parading prejudice as protest for decades,” Senator Wong said.
“In her first speech to this house, she said Australia was in danger of being swamped by Asians – people like me.
“Now she’s added Muslims to the list.
“In my very first speech in this place, I said that because of people like her, Australia was in danger of being swamped by hatred.
“And yesterday, purely to get attention, and not for the first time … Senator Hanson mocked and vilified an entire faith, a faith observed by nearly a million Australians, and the second-largest religion in this country.
“Colleagues, senators, freedom of expression is central to who we are as Australian, but so too is respect.
“And I believe, and I think most of this Senate believes, that disrespecting fellow Australians because of their faith is itself un-Australian.”
‘Un-Australian’
West Australian senator Fatima Payman earlier lambasted Pauline Hanson’s burqa stunt as “un-Australian” amid fears of its impact on Australian Muslims.
Asked by the ABC whether Senator Hanson’s actions were disrespectful and racist, Senator Payman said: “Absolutely. Pauline Hanson and her actions (are) not reflective of the broad Australian public and the community.
“In fact, I just came from the Australian Catholic University interfaith breakfast this morning here in Parliament House, and so many people were sharing their sympathies and obviously expressing that this is very un-Australian, for a senator to pull the same trick out of the bag and be disrespectful to a segment of our society.”
Senator Payman believed the One Nation leader should have been removed from the chamber earlier, saying the government “didn’t handle it well” – particularly given Senator Hanson had previously pulled the stunt eight years ago.
“So, the fact that the government were found asleep at the wheel was just not OK and definitely not suitable of a government that claims to care about multiculturalism and a safe work environment because there wasn’t just me, but so many other senators felt unsafe and disrespected by such behaviour.”
Labor MP slams stunt
The incident was also slammed by a senior Labor figure, who said it would have tragic consequences for Australia’s Muslim community.
“I don’t remember the last time someone in a burqa robbed a bank,” Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek told the ABC on Tuesday.
“I think it’s completely standard, rehashed, Pauline Hanson headline-grabbing behaviour.”
Young, visibly Muslim girls would suffer as a result of Ms Hanson’s “disappointing” antics, the MP said.
“The only thing that you can be guaranteed of is that a girl in a headscarf on her way to school today will be bullied on the train,” Ms Plibersek said.
Senator Hanson’s apparent disregard for the increasing threat of right-wing extremism, as identified by ASIO director Mike Burgess earlier this year, was also problematic, the MP said.
“I think the other thing that’s disappointing about this is that we’ve had warnings from ASIO director that the biggest, fastest growing threat is from right wing extremism,” Ms Plibersek said.
“We saw a bunch of Nazis lined up outside the NSW parliament a couple of weeks ago.
“I don’t see Pauline Hanson calling out that behaviour or that risk.
“She’s once again going for a group of people who will be threatened, abused and perhaps even physically assaulted on their way to work or school today.”
Ms Plibersek later told the Today show that she wasn’t claiming that Senator Hanson was a right-wing extremist, but “it’s continued disappointing behaviour and I don’t really know what she’s trying to say”.
Senator Hanson’s donning of the religious garment was widely criticised by those in the Senate on Tuesday, including by two of Australia’s few Muslim parliamentarians.
“Did you just come from Afghanistan?” Senator Fatima Payman gibed.
“Wow, Pauline, wow. Shame on you. Shame on you.”
Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi, the first female Muslim elected to the upper house, was indignant and said it was a display of “blatant racism”.
“It’s racist and it’s Islamophobic and so are you,” Senator Faruqi said.
As of December 2024, Islamophobic incidents in Australia had surged by 530 per cent in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war, according to the Islamophobia Register Australia.
Ley says stunt ‘desperate’
Sussan Ley has labelled the incident as “desperate” and a distraction from the cost-of-living crisis.
“This kind of stunt weakens Senator Hanson’s case and cheapens our parliament,” the Opposition Leader said.
“Her actions do not reflect the sort of parliament Australians elected us to convene, nor the political system we should all be seeking to build.
“This is a reminder of how brittle One Nation’s politics are, they must resort to reheating desperate stunts. Australians deserve better and we will remain focused on fighting for them and holding the government to account.”
Originally published as Senate suspends Pauline Hanson for seven days as One Nation Senator hits back
