Senator Pauline Hanson’s Burqa-wearing stunt led to the Senate being suspended during the final sitting week of the year, revealing that Hanson is more about attention-seeking than about getting anything done.
Hanson claimed she was standing up for women’s rights when she strode into the chamber wearing the garment and took her seat in front of the first woman to wear a hijab in parliament, Senator Fatima Payman.
And yet Hanson upset and offended many of those women in the same room as her, creating a hostile and unsafe work environment for others.
Further, she sucked oxygen out of a day that could otherwise have further pushed the agenda that was raised in the lower house earlier on Monday, when the names of 74 women killed by violence since this time last year were read aloud.
And as Senator Fayman said on ABC News Breakfast this morning, Hanson has likely made things more difficult for Muslim women and girls in the community. Fayman recalled the last time Hanson pulled this stunt, and the “stares and remarks thrown at her” that same day as she went to visit her father in the hospital.
But Hanson had to have her moment. Perhaps it was a 2025 goal that needed to be ticked off. Handy that she could pull out an existing garment, having done the same thing back in 2017.
The Senate was suspended for 1.5 hours after Hanson refused to leave. Eventually, she was ejected.
Payman further described the stunt as “abhorrent and disrespectful to the chamber and the public.”
“For her to wear the burka, walk in, and just not listen to the procedures or the ruling that was given before her is typical of her trying to stay relevant,” Payman later told ABC radio.
Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi described it as “blatant racism and Islamaphobia”.
Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek told the Today show she couldn’t recall the last time “someone in a burqa robbed a bank”. But Plibersek did recall that two weeks ago, “there was a queue of neo-Nazis standing outside NSW Parliament House and I didn’t hear her joining with ASIO to admit that the fastest growing source of danger in the Australian community is rightwing extremeism.”
Even LNP Senator Matt Canavan was unimpressed, describing the move as “inappropriate” and “disrespectful” to Muslim Australians.
“While this might attract the interest of a small fringe in our society, I just don’t think middle Australia like the parliament being debased like this,” he said on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing. “Doing this kind of stunt, it weakens her case and cheapens our parliament, and most Australians, I think, will look away in disgust.”
Indeed, the Hanson move was condemned by numerous MPs, though some exceptions were made.
Barnaby Joyce backed Hanson’s right to freedom of expression. He shared dinner with Hanson on Monday night, no doubt discussing his plans to join One Nation as well as his ambitions to become the next leader of the party.
Earlier, Islamophobia envoy Aftab Malik said Hanson’s attempts to link the burqa to national security were deepening existing safety risks for Australian Muslim women.
“They already face harassment, threats of rape and violence, not because of what they have done. But because of what they wear,” he said. “All women should be free to choose what they wear or do not wear.”
It’s good to remember what Hanson’s priorities are. Especially as One Nation gains popularity and MPs consider jumping across or forming more alliances with Hanson.
But Hanson reminded us she’s there for the cameras. Regardless of how much time is wasted, and how many people are hurt and offended in the process.