Pauline Hanson has dismissed a historic seven-day Senate suspension over her dramatic burqa protest, making it clear she is unfazed by the upper house’s ruling.

The Senate voted 55–5 to censure Hanson, with only One Nation senators and Ralph Babet opposing the motion. The motion claimed her behaviour was “intended to vilify and mock people on the basis of their religion”.

The penalty marks the harshest sitting-day suspension handed down in federal parliamentary history. It is only the fifth seven-day suspension since 1901 and the first since 1979.

Go Ad Free

Despite the unprecedented sanction, Hanson shrugged off any concern about her political future. "I will be standing for the next election for Queensland. And I will let the people of Queensland judge me. I will not let these people here judge me," she said.

🚨 After the government BLOCKED her move to ban full-face coverings, Pauline Hanson entered the Senate in a BURQA to prove her point.

The reaction from the usual suspects says everything.

Full story: https://t.co/ql6admIApo pic.twitter.com/4j4NiUvNCt

— Avi Yemini (@OzraeliAvi) November 24, 2025

Addressing the chamber, Hanson rejected any wrongdoing and emphasised the legislative purpose of her protest.

“Yesterday, I put up a Bill ... to amend the criminal code amendment to ban the burqa and full face coverings in public places,” she said.

“I was denied that right. I had the right by the Senate to move my Bill, to actually debate it on the floor of parliament.

“You denied me and the people of Australia to have that voice.

“You chose to shut it down.”

Hanson’s defiance has sparked debate over what critics see as inconsistent parliamentary discipline.

By contrast, left-wing Senator Lidia Thorpe escaped censure for her highly publicised confrontation with King Charles, where she labelled the monarchy genocidal. Thorpe was later suspended for four sitting days, but only for a separate incident in which she threw paper at Hanson.

For Hanson, the record-setting penalty has done little to dent her determination, preparing to take her message directly to Queensland voters in the next election.