Chaos in Australian Parliament Over Burqa Protest
Australia’s parliament was thrown into a frenzy on Monday when right-wing senator Pauline Hanson walked in wearing a burqa, stirring outrage among Muslim MPs and prompting a suspension of the session.
Hanson, who donned the full face covering shortly after being denied permission to present a bill aiming to ban burqas in public, faced demands from fellow senators to remove it. The atmosphere quickly escalated, resulting in shouts across the chamber. Ultimately, her defiance led Senate leaders to call off the proceedings.
Leaders from both major political parties voiced strong disapproval of Hanson’s actions. Labor Senate leader and Foreign Minister Penny Wong labeled her demonstration “unbecoming of an Australian senator” and took action after Hanson refused to comply with requests to remove the burqa. Opposition deputy Senate leader Anne Ruston echoed those sentiments, criticizing the move.
Two Muslim senators, including Green Party senator Mehreen Faruqi, condemned the act, describing it as overtly racist. Independent senator Fatima Payman called it “disgraceful.”
This isn’t the first time Hanson has made headlines for wearing a burqa in parliament; she had done so previously in 2017 as part of her campaign against Islamic attire. The 71-year-old senator has long been an opponent of Asian immigration and a critic of Australia’s multicultural policies, a stance that sparked her political career in the 1990s.
Her party, One Nation, gained two seats in the recent national election, now holding four Senate seats, which some attribute to a growing anti-immigration sentiment in Australia.
Following the backlash, Hanson defended her actions in a statement, stating, “I appeared in the Senate today in a burqa after One Nation’s bill to ban burqas and face coverings in public was blocked from even being tabled.” She referred to her critics as “hypocrites,” arguing that over 20 countries have instituted similar bans due to concerns about national security and social cohesion.
Hanson insisted that if the parliament did not ban the burqa, she would continue to showcase it in the chamber to highlight what she believes is at stake. Countries like France and Tunisia are among those that have already banned such attire.
Hanson’s history includes a fall from grace after losing her seat in 1998 and stepping down as One Nation leader in 2002. She faced a short jail sentence for election fraud in 2003, although her conviction was later lifted. In 2010, she opted not to relocate to the UK, citing an overflow of immigrants. She returned to leadership of One Nation in 2014 and was re-elected to the Senate in 2016, warning that “Australia risks being swallowed up by Muslims.”
