By appearing in a veil, right-wing Australian politician Pauline Hanson sparked violent protests in the Senate. The Muslim senator spoke of “racism” and “shaming” and accused Hanson of deliberate provocation.
Hanson took this action after he was previously denied permission to submit a bill regulating this. When she entered the Senate chamber wearing a burqa and refusing to remove the veil, the session was stopped. This was reported by Reuters.
“Racist senator showing blatant racism”
The reaction was sharp. Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi said: “The dress code may be the decision of the senators, but racism should not be the decision of this Senate. This is a racist senator displaying blatant racism and Islamophobia, Mr President. And someone, anyone, has to assign it, and since you are the one in the seat, you have to do it.”
Independent senator Fatima Payman also sharply criticized the performance: “When it comes to the dress code, it’s disrespectful to a religion. It’s disrespectful to Muslims out there, Australian Muslims, it’s completely unconstitutional. That needs to be clarified urgently before we move forward. It’s disgraceful, it’s disgraceful.”
The Senate banned Pauline Hanson from entering the House of Representatives for the next seven days of the session
Both politicians are Muslims. A day later, the Senate reached a conclusion: Hanson was banned from entering the parliamentary chamber for the next seven days of the session. Hanson, a Queensland senator, has been known for his staunchly anti-immigrant stance since the 1990s and has long opposed Islamic dress. In 2017, she appeared in parliament wearing a burqa and called for a ban.
