The Senate of Australia temporarily suspended the far-right senator Pauline Hanson for one week for entering the parliament wearing a burqa. According to Reuters, Hanson wore the burqa in a “disrespectful and inappropriate” manner, which was sharply criticized by members of parliament.
It became known that on November 24, after she failed to get permission to bring to discussion a bill aimed at banning the burqa and other face-covering clothing in public places, the senator entered the upper chamber wearing a burqa as a form of protest. Muslim lawmakers described her action as “racism and an insult.”
Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong strongly condemned the senator’s action, calling it “a blow to our social unity, a mockery and an insult to an entire faith.”
Hanson, a senator elected from Queensland, first gained notoriety in the 1990s for her harsh stance against immigration from Asia and asylum seekers. For years she has carried out campaigns against Islamic clothing.
This is the second time Hanson has entered the parliament in a burqa — in 2017 she also called for a full nationwide ban on the burqa.
Hanson stated that she would not change her views regarding the burqa and emphasized that there are no clothing restrictions in the parliament.
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