https://twitter.com/home https://www.facebook.com/Shabbir.Hussain191By Shabbir Hussain
CANBERRA, Nov 26 (Alliance News): Australian Senator Pauline Hanson has been suspended from parliament for a week after wearing a burka in the Senate to campaign for a ban on the Muslim garment.
The Queensland senator, representing the anti-immigration One Nation party, staged the stunt on Monday after lawmakers blocked her proposed bill outlawing full face coverings in public.
Hanson, who previously wore a burka in parliament in 2017 for the same purpose, faced widespread condemnation from her colleagues.
Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi called the act “blatant racism,” while independent Senator Fatima Payman described it as “disgraceful.”
Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who leads the government in the Senate, moved a motion to censure Hanson, stating that her actions “were intended to vilify and mock people on the basis of their religion” and were “disrespectful to Muslim Australians.”
The motion passed with 55 votes in favor and five against, formalizing Hanson’s suspension.
Wong said Hanson “has been parading prejudice as protest for decades” and is “not worthy of a member of the Australian Senate.”
In response, Hanson posted on Facebook: “If they don’t want me wearing it—ban the burka.”
Her history of controversial remarks includes a maiden speech to the Senate in 2016 warning that Australia was in danger of being “swamped by Muslims,” echoing her first parliamentary speech in 1996 about being “swamped by Asians.”
Hanson’s latest stunt highlights the ongoing debate in Australia over religious attire and freedom of expression, while reigniting criticism of her history of targeting minority communities.
