Pauline Hanson Under Fire Over Burka Senate Stunt

One Nation’s Pauline Hanson has come under fire from her for wearing a burqa in the Australian Senate on Thursday.

When Hanson entered the Senate chambers on August 17, audible gasps could be heard from other Senators. Hanson, in a press release, said she attended Question Time “dressed modestly in a full burqa” to call for the government to ban full face coverings in public, arguing burqas were a national security risk.

When it was her turn to present a question to Attorney-General George Brandis, she stood up and removed the burka, and asked the AG if the government planned to ban the garment which is worn by some Muslim women.

Brandis said the government had no plans to ban the wearing of burqas. He then said Hanson’s attire was a “stunt”, adding it was “appalling” and offensive towards the Muslim community, whom he said law enforcement and security agencies in Australia needed to cooperate with.

“To ridicule that community, to drive it into a corner, to mock its religious attire is an appalling thing to do,” Brandis said, before the left side of the chamber erupted in applause.

Hanson’s stunt has put her One Nation party back in the spotlight after a US State Department report published on August 16 warned her policy of banning Muslim immigration was a threat to religious freedom in Australia. Credit: Australian Parliament House via Storyful