Controversial One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has been labelled a "racist" and suspended from the Senate after wearing a burqa into the chamber.
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Shortly after Senator Hanson failed to move a bill banning the Islamic head covering from public places on Monday, the 71-year-old entered the chamber wearing a burqa during a vote on a separate motion.
Her appearance was met with a furious reaction from Greens and independent senators, including Fatima Payman and Mehreen Faruqi, both of whom are Muslim.
"A dress code might be a choice of the senators, but racism should not be the choice of the Senate. This is a racist senator, displaying blatant racism and Islamophobia," Senator Faruqi said as deputy president of the Senate Slade Brockman talked over her, ordering her to stop.
Senator Faruqi called Senator Hanson's actions "disgraceful".
"If this is about the dress code, she is disrespecting a faith. She is disrespecting the Muslims out there - Muslim Australians," she said.
"It's absolutely unconstitutional. This needs to be dealt with immediately before we proceed."
Senate President Sue Lines then arrived in the chamber and ordered Senator Hanson to leave for being disrespectful, citing a previous ruling that using religious dress as a prop was disrespectful to the parliament.
But the One Nation leader refused to leave or remove her burqa.
The chaos continued after the majority of senators voted in favour of a motion by Labor's Penny Wong to suspend Senator Hanson from the Senate.
But One Nation senators demanded a division be held, refuting the president's ruling.
Eventually, the Senate was suspended after another motion by Senator Wong was agreed to.
Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe repeatedly called Senator Hanson a "racist" and yelled for her to leave the chamber.
"We have a right to be in a safe workplace and that racist is making it unsafe," Senator Thorpe said.
It's the second time Senator Hanson has attempted the stunt.
After first wearing a burqa into the Senate in 2017, she was lashed by then attorney-general George Brandis, who called it an "appalling thing to do".
Australian Associated Press
