Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Australian Senate Censures and Suspends Pauline Hanson Over Repeat Burqa Stunt

The rare seven-day penalty followed her refusal to remove the covering after a blocked bid to introduce a public face‑covering ban.

Overview

  • Lawmakers voted 55–5 to censure the One Nation leader and suspend her for seven consecutive sitting days, a sanction that will carry over when Parliament returns in February.
  • Proceedings were halted after Hanson entered the chamber in a burqa and declined orders to remove it, repeating a similar 2017 act tied to her push to outlaw full-face coverings in public.
  • Government Senate leader Penny Wong led condemnation, with opposition figure Anne Ruston and Muslim senators Mehreen Faruqi and Fatima Payman calling the act disrespectful and racist.
  • Australia’s Islamophobia envoy Aftab Malik warned the stunt could worsen harassment and violence directed at Muslim women, as advocacy groups decried the display.
  • Hanson remained defiant on social media and to reporters, framing the burqa as a security and women’s-rights issue; her One Nation party holds four Senate seats after gains in May.