Australia senator condemned for burka stunt in parliament

Shortly after other lawmakers blocked her from introducing the bill on Monday, she returned wearing a black burka.
“This is a racist senator, displaying blatant racism,” said Mehreen Faruqi, a Muslim Greens senator from New South Wales.
Fatima Payman, an independent senator from the state of Western Australia, called the stunt “disgraceful”.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who serves as leader of the government in the senate, condemned it as “disrespectful”.
“We represent in our states, people of every faith, of every faith of all backgrounds. And we should do so decently,” she said.
She added Hanson was “not worthy of a member of the Australian Senate” and moved a motion to suspend Hanson for failing to remove the garment.
In a post on Facebook, Hanson wrote “If they don’t want me wearing it – ban the burka.”
She previously wore a burka to parliament in 2017, also calling for a national ban at the time.
In 2016, Hanson was criticised for her maiden speech to the Australian senate, in which she said the country was in danger of being “swamped by Muslims”.
It echoed her controversial 1996 speech in which she warned that the country was in danger of being “swamped by Asians”.


