‘Disgraceful’ burqa stunt: Pauline Hanson condemned and suspended from Senate

The Australian Senate was dramatically suspended on Monday after One Nation leader Pauline Hanson entered the chamber wearing a full-body burqa, in a repeat of her infamous 2017 stunt that immediately drew accusations of racism and disrespect towards Muslim Australians.

Hanson, a long-time campaigner for a national ban on full-face coverings, walked into the red-carpeted chamber shortly after being denied leave to introduce a bill seeking to outlaw burqas and other full-face veils in public places. The move triggered audible anger from senators across the political spectrum and forced the rare shutdown of the upper house during the final sitting week of 2025.

Senate suspended after refusal to remove burqa

According to detailed reporting from ABC News , proceedings were suspended for more than an hour and a half after Hanson refused to comply with a ruling from Senate President Sue Lines that the burqa was being used as a “prop” in breach of parliamentary decorum. The One Nation leader remained on the Senate floor even after sanctions were imposed, forcing the chamber to be cleared.

The extraordinary scenes came as the government tried to push through its year-end legislative agenda. Instead, the headline moment from Canberra became a culture-war stunt that critics said humiliated the institution and sidelined more pressing business affecting households in Australia and across the Tasman.

‘Blatant racism’ and ‘disgraceful’ – Muslim senators respond

The fiercest criticism came from Muslim women senators, who said Hanson’s actions went far beyond a legitimate policy debate and instead targeted an already small and vulnerable community.

Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi labelled Hanson “a racist senator, displaying blatant racism”, while independent senator Fatima Payman – the first woman to wear a hijab in the federal parliament – described the stunt as “abhorrent”, “disrespectful” and a deliberate attempt to stay politically relevant by vilifying Muslim women.

A joint condemnation also came from senior figures on both sides of politics. Senate Labor leader Penny Wong and Coalition deputy Senate leader Anne Ruston both backed a motion to suspend Hanson, arguing that her behaviour was “not worthy of a member of the Australian Senate” and had brought the chamber into disrepute.

Government stresses choice and respect for religious dress

Outside the chamber, Multiculturalism Minister Anne Aly said the stunt was “unacceptable” and warned that it risked further stigmatising Muslim communities who already face discrimination and surveillance. In comments reported by SBS News , Aly stressed that Australian women — whether in Sydney’s western suburbs or in Auckland’s diverse neighbourhoods — should have full bodily autonomy, “whether that’s a bikini or a burqa”.

Her remarks echoed earlier warnings from legal and faith groups that debates over face coverings must not slide into policing how Muslim women dress. For many advocates, the real question is not whether Australians approve of the burqa but whether the state has any business legislating it out of public life.

A repeat of 2017 — but a changed political landscape

Monday’s scenes inevitably revived memories of 2017, when Hanson first wore a burqa into the Senate and was rebuked in a powerful intervention by then attorney-general George Brandis. But the political environment in 2025 is different: One Nation has gained seats off the back of rising anti-immigration sentiment, even as mainstream parties insist that multiculturalism remains central to modern Australia.

Hanson’s supporters argue that her stunt highlights security concerns and women’s rights, but critics say it reduces complex questions of faith, gender and safety to a single costume drama staged for cameras and Facebook engagement. For many voters in both Australia and New Zealand, the images of a senator using religious attire as a prop inside parliament will reinforce fears that culture-war politics are crowding out serious policy work on housing, cost of living and climate.

How the stunt plays in Australia and New Zealand

In Australia, where debates over national identity and migration are never far from the surface, the burqa stunt is likely to harden existing lines. For multicultural suburbs in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, it reads as another attack on communities already asked to constantly prove their belonging. For some regional and outer-suburban voters drawn to Hanson’s rhetoric, it may be seen as a show of defiance against “political correctness”.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand observers are watching closely. The country’s own history — from the Christchurch mosque attacks to ongoing conversations about inclusion — means that symbolic gestures towards or against Muslim communities carry particular weight. New Zealand commentators are already asking whether such a stunt could happen in Wellington’s debating chamber, and what safeguards exist to prevent parliamentary theatrics from further marginalising minority faiths.

Parliament as a stage for culture wars

Monday’s shutdown is only the latest episode in a broader trend of parliaments becoming stages for theatrical protest. Earlier this year, Swikblog examined how public figures and institutions become lightning rods for wider cultural anxieties in our coverage of Australian motorsport legend Allan Moffat’s legacy and changing national identity narratives in sport ( read that analysis here ).

We have also explored how a single high-stakes event can dominate timelines and reshape public conversation, from politics to football tribalism, in pieces such as our feature on the North London Derby’s global reach ( North London Derby 23 November 2025: Why It’s Trending Everywhere ). Hanson’s burqa stunt sits in the same ecosystem of spectacle-driven politics: a made-for-camera moment designed to travel fast on social media, even if it means freezing the work of the Senate.

What happens next?

For now, Hanson faces only a short-term suspension from the Senate chamber. Her proposed bill to ban burqas nationwide has gone nowhere, and there is little appetite among major parties for a French-style law targeting religious dress in public. Yet the images from Canberra will linger — and may be replayed in future election campaigns, both by One Nation and by its opponents.

The deeper test will be whether Australian politics can resist being dragged further into identity wars, or whether incidents like this become a template for other attention-seeking stunts. For Muslim Australians and New Zealanders, the hope is that the chorus of condemnation heard on Monday is a sign that the political centre is drawing a line: criticise ideas and policies, yes — but do not turn religious communities into props.