Australian far-right Senator Pauline Hanson wore a burqa to Parliament on Monday as a political prop in her push to ban the Muslim garment in public, sparking accusations of racism from Muslim senators over the stunt. Hanson wore the burqa shortly after she was denied permission to introduce a bill that would outlaw burqas and other full-face coverings in public places in Australia.
It was the second time Hanson had used the head garment, worn by some Muslim women, in parliament in an effort to ban the public wearing of burqas.
The Senate erupted in anger as she walked into the chamber wearing the burqa, and proceedings were suspended when Hanson refused to remove it. “This is a racist senator, displaying blatant racism,” said Muslim Mehreen Faruqi, a Greens senator from the state of New South Wales.
Muslim Fatima Payman, an independent senator from the state of Western Australia, called the stunt “disgraceful”.
Both Penny Wong, leader of Australia’s centre-left Labor government in the Senate, and Anne Ruston, deputy Senate leader for the opposition coalition, condemned Hanson’s actions.
Wong called them “not worthy of a member of the Australian Senate” and moved a motion to suspend Hanson for failing to remove the garment. After Hanson refused to leave, Senate proceedings were suspended.
Hanson, a senator for Queensland, first rose to prominence in the 1990s because of her strident opposition to immigration from Asia and to asylum seekers, and has long campaigned against Islamic clothing during her parliamentary career.