Australian Senator Slammed for Burqa Stunt to Push Ban

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA—Australian Senate proceedings were halted this week as Senator Pauline Hanson of the anti-immigration One Nation party staged a provocative, Islamophobic stunt, wearing a black burqa on the chamber floor to push for a nationwide ban on the Muslim garment. The action, immediately and fiercely condemned as “blatant racism” by Muslim parliamentarians, has reignited community fears over the institutional normalization of anti-Muslim bigotry.

The Queensland Senator’s display—her second time wearing the garment in parliament after a 2017 incident—came shortly after fellow lawmakers blocked her attempt to introduce a bill aimed at banning full face coverings in public. Hanson refused to remove the burqa, forcing the Senate leader to move a motion to suspend her from the proceedings.

The most powerful rebukes came from the Muslim senators serving in the chamber, who recognized the stunt as a targeted act of religious hostility.

Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi (NSW) did not mince words, rising to condemn the action: “This is a racist senator, displaying blatant racism.”

Independent Senator Fatima Payman (WA) called the act “disgraceful,” pointing out the profound disrespect shown to a significant segment of the Australian population.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong, the government’s Senate leader, denounced the stunt as “disrespectful,” telling Hanson she was “not worthy of a member of the Australian Senate” for failing to represent the diversity of their constituents honorably.

Hanson’s decision to use the burqa as a symbol of protest follows a long and controversial history of anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric that has fueled division across the country.

She confirmed the inflammatory nature of her action in a social media post, writing: “If they don’t want me wearing it – ban the burka.”

This current display echoes her infamous 2016 maiden speech to the Senate, where she stirred national controversy by claiming the country was in danger of being “swamped by Muslims.” This statement itself was a conscious callback to her highly criticized 1996 speech where she similarly warned that Australia was at risk of being “swamped by Asians.”

The stunt, which deliberately disrupted the nation’s highest legislative body, is seen by community advocates as a calculated move to reinforce a hostile and prejudiced narrative against Australian Muslims, making the political environment more dangerous for Muslim women who choose to wear the burqa or niqab.