Non-Muslim Australian Senator Wears Burqa in Protest

Eight years ago, an Australian lawmaker who thinks her nation has too many Muslims wore a burqa to Parliament in protest. Pauline Hanson of the anti-immigration One Nation party apparently kept the burqa in her closet: She wore one again on Monday, reports the BBC. Eight years later, the stunt drew similar condemnation. "This is a racist senator, displaying blatant racism," said Mehreen Faruqi, a Muslim Greens senator from New South Wales. Others, including Foreign Minister Penny Wong, also condemned the move.

Hanson donned the garment on Monday after other lawmakers blocked her from introducing a bill to ban burqas in public. "If the parliament won't ban it, I will display this oppressive, radical, non-religious head garb that risks our national security and the ill treatment of women on the floor of our parliament so that every Australian knows what's at stake," she wrote on social media, per the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Hanson first wore a burqa in 2017 as part of a similar push for a national ban. She has a history of inflammatory statements, including a claim in 2016 that Australia was being "swamped by Muslims," and, 20 years before that, a claim that it was being "swamped by Asians." On Monday, the Senate suspended its work for 90 minutes amid the uproar.