Australian senator suspended from Parliament for wearing burqa in protest over bill

An Australian senator was suspended from Parliament for wearing a burqa in protest over her bill banning the Muslim garment not being considered.

Sen. Pauline Hanson, 71, who leads the anti-immigration One Nation minor party, was accused of performing a disrespectful stunt on Monday when she walked into the Senate wearing the burqa to protest fellow senators’ refusal to consider her bill that would ban it and other full-face coverings in public places, The Associated Press reported.

Hanson's colleagues suspended her for the rest of the day on Monday. Because she didn't apologize, the senators passed a censure motion Tuesday that barred her from seven consecutive Senate sitting days.

The Senate arises for the year on Thursday, and Hanson’s suspension will continue when Parliament resumes in February.

Hanson later said that she would be judged by voters at the next election in 2028, not by her fellow senators.

“They didn’t want to ban the burqa, yet they denied me the right to wear it on the floor of Parliament. There is no dress code on the floor of Parliament, yet I’m not allowed to wear it. So to me, it’s been hypocritical,” Hanson said.

Earlier this month, Hanson gave a speech at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Florida. In 2017, she wore a burqa in the Senate in a similar protest and wasn’t punished over it.

The Senate's government leader, Penny Wong, moved the censure motion on Tuesday.

Wong said that by wearing the burqa, Hanson had “mocked and vilified an entire faith” that was observed by nearly 1 million Australians among a population of 28 million.

“Sen. Hanson’s hateful and shallow pageantry tears at our social fabric and I believe it makes Australia weaker, and it also has cruel consequences for many of our most vulnerable, including in our school yards,” Wong told the Senate.