Australian Senator Pauline Hanson has been suspended for one week following a controversial stunt in which she wore a burka in parliament to push for a ban on full-face coverings. The incident occurred on Monday, November 23, 2025, and drew strong criticism from colleagues, with some labeling her actions as “blatant racism.”
Hanson, a Queensland senator from the anti-immigration One Nation party, aimed to introduce a bill that would prohibit full-face coverings in public a policy she has long championed. After her proposed bill was blocked, Hanson returned to the Senate wearing a black burka to make her point.
“This is a racist senator, displaying blatant racism,” said Mehreen Faruqi, a Muslim Greens senator who was previously found by the Federal Court in 2024 to be a victim of racial discrimination by Hanson, a ruling currently under appeal. Independent Senator Fatima Payman also condemned the act as “disgraceful.”
Foreign Minister Penny Wong, serving as the government leader in the Senate, moved a motion to censure Hanson, arguing that the senator “has been parading prejudice as protest for decades.” The motion, which passed 55 votes to five, stated that Hanson’s actions were “intended to vilify and mock people based on their religion” and were “disrespectful to Muslim Australians.” Wong added that Hanson’s conduct rendered her “not worthy of a member of the Australian Senate.”
Hanson responded on social media, writing: “If they don’t want me wearing it ban the burka.” This is not the first time she has staged such a protest; she previously wore a burka in parliament in 2017 while advocating for a national ban. Her record of controversial remarks also includes her 2016 maiden speech warning that Australia risked being “swamped by Muslims,” echoing her 1996 speech in the House of Representatives in which she expressed similar concerns about Asian immigrants.
The suspension marks another chapter in Hanson’s contentious political career, which has consistently drawn both national and international attention for her provocative stance on immigration and religious attire.
