Australian Senator Pauline Hanson was suspended from Parliament for the remainder of the year and barred for seven consecutive Senate sitting days after she entered the chamber wearing a burqa to protest against the refusal to consider her bill banning full-face coverings in public. This marked a repeat of a similar stunt from 2017 and sparked widespread condemnation across the political spectrum.

The 71-year-old One Nation leader’s act was seen by many as disrespectful and racist, vilifying the Muslim community. Labor Senate leader Penny Wong moved the censure motion, accusing Hanson of mocking an entire faith observed by nearly one million Australians. The Senate passed the motion with an overwhelming majority, suspending Hanson for her defiance, refusal to remove the garment when directed, and for disrupting proceedings.

Hanson defended her actions, arguing there was no dress code prohibiting the burqa in Parliament and portraying her protest as a stance against what she described as oppressive cultural practices. However, several Muslim senators, including Mehreen Faruqi and Fatima Payman, criticized the stunt as disgraceful and damaging, emphasizing that it entrenched racism and Islamophobia. Faruqi notably called for addressing systemic racism in Australia’s political institutions.

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This incident adds to Hanson’s controversial history of targeting minority communities, including social media remarks leading to legal rulings against her for racial discrimination. Advocacy groups have warned that such public provocations could increase hostility and danger toward Muslim women in Australia. The suspension will last through the parliamentary year’s end, with Parliament set to resume sitting in February 2026.

The controversy highlights ongoing tensions in Australian politics around issues of multiculturalism, religious freedom, and national security, with the burqa protest amplifying debates on inclusion and the limits of political expression within parliamentary decorum.

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