One Nation senator Pauline Hanson has sparked uproar and a Senate shutdown after she wore a burqa on the floor of parliament.
Seven years after she sparked controversy by pulling the same stunt, she marched into the Senate on Monday afternoon after her 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,’’ she said.
“It is extremely racist and unsafe. Senator Hanson, all of us in this place have a great privilege in coming into this chamber, a great privilege.”During the melee, Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe shouted “get her out!” as the Deputy Senator Slade Brockman told her to stop speaking.
At that point, Senator Fatima Payman said the conduct was “disgraceful”.
“It’s absolutely unconstitutional. This needs to be dealt with immediately before we proceed,’’ Senator Payman said.
“It’s disgraceful.”
Senator Thorpe then shouted that the Senate was “unsafe” as the Greens Senator Mehreen Saeed Faruqi again demanded action.
Greens Senator Larissa Waters requested that the Deputy President Slade Brockman review his decision, given that “clearly what has happened today is not a genuine demonstration of faith.”
“In fact, it is the middle finger to people of faith,’’ Senator Waters said.
Senate President Sue Lines then took the chair, declaring the outfit “a prop” and asking her to remove herself from the chamber.
Senate leader Penny Wong then called for a vote on removing Senator Hanson from the chamber as senators continued to shout, “Get her out.”
“I rise to ask that you reflect the ruling of Senator Parry, when in the President’s chair, in relation to a similar stunt by this senator in this place, and I will remind those who may not have been here of what the then leader of the government, Senator Brandis, said at the time,’’ she said.
“He says to Senator Hanson, ‘Senator I’m not going to pretend to ignore the stunt you have tried to pull today by arriving in the chamber dressed in a burqa, when we all know you are not an adherent of the Islamic faith,
“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.
“Senator Hanson, and it is absolutely consistent with being a decent Australian and being a strict and adherent Muslim,’’ Senator Wong added.
“All of us in this place have a great privilege in coming into this chamber, a great privilege. And we represent in our states people of every faith, of all backgrounds, and we should do so decently, and what we should not do in this place, whatever views we may have on policy, is to be this disrespectful of the chamber, and of people of faith, whatever our own.”
In 2017, the One Nation party was rebuked by the Turnbull government for entering the Senate chamber wearing a black burqa.
Then leader of the government in the Senate, the attorney general George Brandis, told the One Nation leader the ruling Coalition had no intention of banning the burqa.
He warned Hanson against indulging in behaviour that Muslim Australians would find offensive.
“Senator Hanson, no, we will not be banning the burqa,” he said in 2017.
“Senator Hanson, I’m not going to pretend to ignore the stunt that you have tried to pull today by arriving in the chamber dressed in a burqa when we all know you are not an adherent of the Islamic faith.
“I would caution you and counsel you, Senator Hanson, with respect, to be very very careful of the offence you may do to the religious sensibilities of other Australians.”
“We have about half a million Australians in this country of the Islamic faith, and the vast majority of them are law-abiding, good Australians, and Senator Hanson, it is absolutely consistent with being a good law-abiding Australian and a strict, adherent, Muslim.”
“To ridicule that community, to drive it into a corner, to mock its religious garments, is an appalling thing to do, and I would ask you to reflect on your behaviour.”
At the time, his rebuke prompted Labor, Greens and some crossbenchers to stand and applaud.
Labor senator Penny Wong told Hanson: “It is one thing to wear religious dress as a sincere act of faith and another to wear it here as a stunt in the Senate chamber.”
More to come
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