Overview
- After being denied leave to introduce a bill to outlaw full face coverings nationwide, Pauline Hanson returned to the chamber in a burqa and refused to remove it.
- Senate President Sue Lines cited a previous ruling against using religious dress as a prop, and proceedings were temporarily halted as Hanson was suspended.
- Labor’s Penny Wong and the Coalition’s Anne Ruston criticized the conduct, while Muslim senators Mehreen Faruqi and Fatima Payman called it racist and disrespectful.
- Special Envoy to Combat Islamophobia Aftab Malik warned the proposal and stunt could worsen harassment and violence toward Muslim women, noting past estimates of fewer than 250 burqa wearers in Australia.
- Hanson vowed on social media to persist with the campaign, but her proposed ban is unlikely to gain support from Labor, the Coalition or the Greens, and One Nation holds four of 76 Senate seats.