Anne Aly Condemns Pauline Hanson's Burqa Stunt as 'Unacceptable,' Emphasizes Women's Right to Choose

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Multicultural Minister Anne Aly says Australian women should be afforded “bodily autonomy” following a burqa stunt by One Nation leader Pauline Hanson.

The Queensland senator was trying to table a motion to ban the burqa — a head-and-body covering predominantly worn by Muslim women in Afghanistan — on Monday afternoon, but the motion was not granted.

Moments later, she returned to the Senate chamber to vote in a division, alongside Coalition and crossbench senators, wearing a black burqa, with her legs visible, to the protests of Senators.

Speaking exclusively to SBS News shortly after the stunt, Aly says she is “disappointed” that the elected representative “chose to disrespect” a small cohort of women.

“A very, very, very small minority of women wear a burqa,” remarked Multicultural Minister Anne Aly on Tuesday afternoon, emphasizing the importance of personal choice.

A woman speaks at a microphone standing up

Anne Aly, the Multicultural Minister, has highlighted the necessity for Australian women to have “bodily autonomy,” advocating for freedom in personal attire choices.

“The reality is, most Muslim women who decide to cover opt for a hijab, and there are many, like myself, who decide not to cover,” she explained. “The crucial aspect is having the choice.”

A woman wearing a black burqa walking on red carpet in Senate chamber

Aly asserted that women should have the right to decide their attire, whether they prefer a bikini or a burqa, ensuring they have the autonomy over their bodies.

Responding to a surge in One Nation polling, sitting between 15 to 18 per cent, Aly said Hanson “preyed” on “genuine grievances” in the community, whether it be housing affordability or cost of living, for “blatant political purposes”.

While labelling the behaviour “unacceptable” and “unworthy” of office, Aly stopped short of listing consequences, leaving that up to the Senate.

Senators erupt over ‘racist’ behaviour

Senators became outraged as Senate president in the chair, Slade Brockman, allowed the vote to proceed, with many using their minutes to call out the behaviour.

As senators began to interject, Brockman said: “This matter has been considered before, dress is a matter for individual senators’ conscience.”

Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi, who is Muslim, accused Hanson of racism.

“Dress code might be the choice of the senators but racism should not be the choice of the Senate,” she said.

“This is a racist senator, displaying blatant racism and Islamophobia … Someone should pull her up on that.”

Senator Fatima Payman, who is also Muslim, labelled the behaviour, with Hanson allowed to partake in the vote, as “disgraceful, it is a shame”.

“She’s disrespecting a faith, she’s disrespecting the Muslims out there … it’s absolutely unconstitutional. This needs to be dealt with immediately before we proceed,” she said.

Greens leader Larissa Waters asked Brockman to reconsider his ruling, with senators including Lidia Thorpe urging Hanson be removed or the Senate suspended.

“Review your earlier ruling because clearly what has happened today is not a genuine demonstration of faith, in fact it’s a middle finger to people of faith,” she said.

“It is extremely racist and unsafe. And I’d like to reconsider your earlier ruling that it is not appropriate to draw attention to a religion people don’t subscribe to.”

Senate president Sue Lines then arrived in the chamber and ordered 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 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 Wong was agreed to.

In a press conference following her ejection, Hanson said she has been denied the right to introduce a bill to ban the burka in Australia.

“What they’ve done is shut down the Australian people having the right to have their say,” Hanson said.

“It is a national security issue, it is about women’s rights, and a lot of women are forced to wear this garb.

“This does not belong in Australia and at least give me the opportunity to debate it and let’s have the debate on the floor of parliament, because I do represent a large proportion of Australians out there who want to see the burka banned.”

Opposition leader Sussan Ley said in a statement that the stunt “weakens Senator Hanson’s case and cheapens our parliament”.

“Her actions do not reflect the sort of Parliament Australians elected us to convene, nor the political system we should all be seeking to build,” Ley said.

Outside the chamber, conservative senator Matt Canavan said the incident was “inappropriate” and “disrespectful” to Muslim Australians.

He said he left the chamber during the stunt, which he described as “attention-seeking”.

“I don’t support you ridiculing people who have certain multicultural dress standards, it is inappropriate,” he told ABC TV.

“You can make a fair and reasonable point about immigration and migration and integration and Pauline has a voice to do that in the Senate but this kind of stunt, it weakens her case and cheapens our Parliament, and most Australians will look away in disgust.”