One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson has been suspended from the Senate for seven days.
Senators also passed a rare motion to censure her.
The motion was raised after Hanson wore a burqa in the Senate chamber, having tried and failed to introduce a bill to ban burqas and full-face coverings.
Hanson previously wore a burqa in the Senate in 2017, also seeking a ban on the religious garment.
Censure motions
The House of Reps and the Senate both have the power to move ‘censure’ motions against individual members of Parliament.
The measures are treated as ‘expressions of opinion’ by the Parliament. They do not have any substantive effect — that is, they don’t impose any penalty or seek to remove the MP.
The last time an MP was censured and suspended was independent Senator Lidia Thorpe in the last week of Parliament in 2024, over her protest against King Charles.
Burqa stunt
On Monday, Hanson tried to introduce a bill banning burqas and full-face coverings.
Burqas are a garment worn by some Muslim women. They cover a woman’s body and face entirely, except for a small mesh partition over the eyes. Several countries have banned them.
The Government refused to table the bill (formally schedule it for discussion).
Hanson then appeared in the Senate dressed in a burqa.
It was the second time she had entered the Senate wearing a burqa while calling for them to be banned, the first incident being in 2017.
The stunt was criticised by Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who called it “disrespectful”, and Coalition Senate Leader Anne Ruston, who said: “Maybe today we should all reflect on respect for each other in this place”.
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A motion was moved to suspend Hanson from the Senate until she removed the garment. When she refused to do this, Senate proceedings paused for about 90 minutes.
Hanson was then handed a 24 hour suspension.
Censure
When Hanson returned to the Senate on Tuesday, Wong brought forward a censure motion on the basis that Hanson had “engaged in behaviours that was intended to vilify and mock people on the basis of their religion”.
Different senators voted for different parts of Wong’s motion. For example, the section actually censuring Hanson passed 40 votes to 25, with most of the Coalition voting against it.
Liberal Senator Andrew McLachlan crossed the floor to vote for this section.
Other parts, which said Hanson’s actions were disrespectful to Muslim Australians and called on her to apologise, received more Coalition support.
When called upon to give an apology, Hanson said she had been “denied the right by the Senate to move my bill”.
“The senators that are elected by the Australian people, you dare question
me over my respect for this place, the senators in this place have no respect for the Australian people,” she said.
Suspension
Following the successful censure motion, Wong moved a motion to suspend Hanson from the Senate for seven days.
Hanson called for a formal vote, but then said: “You can cancel that [vote], the people will judge me at the next election.”
The motion to suspend her then passed.
Both Houses of Parliament will sit to debate bills for the last time this year on Thursday, meaning Hanson will not return to the Senate until next year.
