Senate Blocks Burqa Ban, Then Enforces One!

Yesterday, Senator Pauline Hanson tried to table a bill to ban the wearing of a face-covering garment in public, namely the burqa. The Senate said no.

So she walked in wearing one.

Cue the outrage, suspension of proceedings, and a stampede of politicians racing each other to the nearest microphone to denounce the “stunt.”

The chamber was shut down for roughly an hour and a half, during the final sitting week no less, because the same crowd that blocked a vote to ban burqas suddenly demanded a ban on a senator wearing one.

You couldn’t script it better.

Greens leader Larissa Waters called it “racist.” Independent Fatima Payman branded it “disgraceful” and, bizarrely, “unconstitutional.” Exactly where the clause is in the Constitution that bans donning a burqa in the Senate to show up the hypocrisy of leftist Senators is beyond me!

Not wanting to be outdone in the wokery stakes, Senator Lidia Thorpe screamed that she wanted Hanson punted on the spot. The chorus swelled, the outrage machine whirred, and the Senate President moved to eject Hanson and treat the garment as a “prop.” Then, the sitting was suspended. Principles, apparently, are flexible when the optics are inconvenient.

This was politics, raw, theatrical, and effective. Hanson’s point wasn’t subtle. If banks, post offices, and courts can insist on visible faces, why can’t the Senate debate similar standards in other public places?

Whether you like the idea or not, it deserved a debate instead of the usual procedural smothering. But what we got was pearl-clutching and a time-out for Parliament.

If you're feeling a sense of deja vu, you're not mistaken. Hanson pulled a similar move in 2017 and was loudly rebuked while the political class gave itself a standing ovation. Former Liberal Senator George Brandis, in a display worthy of an Oscar, teared up and choked out the line that "to mock (Islam's) religious garments is an appalling thing to do," despite the fact that all Hanson did was wear one. The uniparty was in full force even then, when Labor's Senator Penny Wong got up and backslapped Brandis, thanking him for his "fine words" in attacking Hanson.

Eight years on, it’s the same plot with a louder cast. Meanwhile, countries across Europe have long grappled with the same issue, with some implementing face-covering bans garnering bipartisan support. However, the mere mention of it in Australia triggers censorship, shutdowns, and lectures.

Today’s reaction told you everything. The left shut down a vote on banning the burqa, then demanded a ban on the burqa when Hanson wore it. They’ll defend “choice” right up until the moment the wrong person chooses. Then it’s security guards and suspensions.

If Parliament can’t even debate visible-face standards without collapsing into performative outrage, what chance is there of dealing with the actual hard stuff Like energy prices, debt, immigration, productivity?

Senator Pauline Hanson forced the contradiction into the open. Her opponents proved it by shutting the place down.

That’s the story, and it’s bigger than one garment.

“The Muslims refuse our culture and try to impose their culture on us. I reject them, and this is not only my duty toward my culture, it is toward my values, my principles, my civilization. The moment you give up your principles, and your values, you are dead, your culture is dead, your civilization is dead. Period.”
– Oriana Fallaci