One Nation senator Pauline Hanson reignited controversy in Canberra after entering the Senate wearing a burqa, moments after being denied leave to table a bill calling for a nationwide ban on the garment and other full-face coverings.

It was the second time in her career that Hanson has worn the religious covering in Parliament, following her 2017 protest. This week’s repeat drew an equally heated reaction from the usual suspects, particularly from one of Australia’s few Muslim parliamentarians.

🚨BREAKING: After they blocked her motion on face coverings, Pauline Hanson walked into the Senate in a burqa.

She made her point.

And the usual suspects LOST THEIR MINDS. pic.twitter.com/IaRxd4jmMF

— Avi Yemini (@OzraeliAvi) November 24, 2025

“Did you just come from Afghanistan?” Fatima Payman said across the chamber. “Wow, queen. Wow. Shame on you. Shame on you.”

The uproar began as soon as Hanson walked in. Members of the Greens and crossbench rose to protest, prompting Payman to declare, “She is disrespecting a faith ... This needs to be dealt with immediately before we proceed.”

Labor Senate leader Penny Wong and Coalition Senate leader Anne Ruston also condemned the move. Wong urged Senate President Sue Lines to rule Hanson's conduct disorderly, invoking a past rebuke by Liberal senator George Brandis.

“All of us in this place. Have a great privilege and we represent in our states people of every faith ... and we should do so decently,” Wong said. “The sort of disrespect that you are engaging in now is not worthy of a member of the Australian Senate.”

Lines ultimately ordered Hanson to remove the burqa and leave the chamber or face suspension, and the Senate voted overwhelmingly for her removal.

In a statement on Facebook, Hanson said: "Today, the Senate stopped the introduction of my Bill to Ban the Burqa and Other Full Face Coverings in Public Places. Despite the ban in 24 countries across the world (including Islamic countries), the hypocrites in our parliament have rejected my Bill. 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. If they don't want me wearing it - ban the burqa."

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