The Australian Senate descended into chaos this morning after One Nation leader Pauline Hanson returned to the upper chamber wearing a burka.
Ms Hanson, 71, wore the black religious garment paired with a floral dress that ended above her knees as part of a major protest.
The right-wing senator, who staged a similar protest in 2017, entered the upper chamber in a black veil just moments after senators rejected her proposed legislation to prohibit full face coverings across Australia
Ms Hanson's dramatic entrance sparked immediate outrage among senators who denounced the display as racist.
The confrontation led to a vote suspending the One Nation leader from the chamber, with officials only allowing Ms Hanson to return after changing into appropriate attire.
Green senator Mehreen Faruqi condemned the act under parliamentary privilege, declaring: "This is a racist senator displaying blatant racism and Islamophobia, President, and someone should be pulling her up on that."
Independent senator Fatima Payman, who herself wears a hijab, also voiced her fury at the display.
"She is disrespecting a faith, she is disrespecting the Muslims out there, Muslim Australians," Ms Payman said.
Pauline Hanson's dramatic entrance sparked immediate outrage among senators who denounced the display as racist
|AUSTRALIAN SENATE
"It's absolutely unconstitutional. This needs to be dealt with immediately before we proceed."
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong added her voice to the chorus of disapproval, urging colleagues to maintain dignity.
Ms Wong told senators: "All of us in this place have a great privilege of coming into this chamber and we represent people of every faith, of all backgrounds, and we should do so decently."
Following her removal from the chamber, Ms Hanson took to social media with a defiant message.
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Following her removal from the chamber, Pauline Hanson took to social media with a defiant message
|PAULINE HANSON
"Today, the Senate blocked the introduction of my Bill to ban the burqa and other full-face coverings in public places," she posted.
Ms Hanson labelled senators as hypocrites, noting that 24 nations worldwide have implemented similar bans.
Despite sparking fury from left-wing senators, the One Nation leader pledged to persist with her protest.
Ms Hanson added: "So, if the parliament won't ban it, I will display this oppressive, radical, non-religious head garb that risk our national security and the ill treatment of women on the floor of our parliament so that every Australian knows what's at stake."
Pauline Hanson's protest sparked chaos in the Senate
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"If they don't want me wearing it - ban the burqa," Ms Hanson declared.
Today's incident marks the second occasion Hanson has worn Islamic dress in Canberra.
Ms Hanson donned a full burka in the Senate chamber back in 2017 while claiming the garment presented security risks and connecting it to terrorism.
During her first burka protest, then Attorney-General George Brandis strongly criticised her actions.
Independent senator Fatima Payman, who herself wears a hijab, also voiced her fury at the display
|AUSTRALIAN SENATE
"To ridicule someone's religious garments is appalling," he said at the time. "We are a tolerant society, and we should respect people's faith."
Following a delay to parliamentary proceedings, senators returned to the upper chamber when order had been restored an hour and a half later.
Greens leader Larissa Waters labelled Monday's behaviour an "abomination" when speaking to journalists.
"Senator Hanson's stunt today doesn't make anybody's rent cheaper, doesn't make anybody's grocery bills cheaper, doesn't make anybody's life materially better. All it does is make people of colour feel less safe in this country."
Despite only receiving 6.4 per cent of the vote in Australia's 2025 Federal Election in May, Ms Hanson's One Nation Party is snatching support from the Liberal-National coalition to hit new highs of 18 per cent in the opinion polls.