Penny Wong moves censure motion against Pauline Hanson for remarks about Muslims
The coalition opposed parliament’s condemnation after Pauline Hanson claimed there were no good Muslims as the One Nation leader stormed out of the Senate and called the hearing a joke.
Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi and independent Lidia Thorpe accused Labor of using Hanson’s remarks as a weapon to crack down on the opposition, but ultimately backed the motion introduced by government leader Penny Wong in the Senate on Monday.
Liberal senators Paul Scarr and Andrew McLachlan, recently kicked off the opposition front bench by Angus Taylor, took to the floor to vote for the government, while the rest of their party opposed the move.
This is Hanson’s second official reprimand and does not lead to any punishment. Hanson will not be banned from the Senate, as she was after she was censured and suspended after wearing a burqa in the Senate chamber in November.
Parliament’s return this week gave the government its first opportunity to rebuke Hanson for comments he made to Sky News last month: Hanson said: “How can you tell me there are good Muslims?”
“Their religion concerns me because according to what is written in the Quran, they hate Westerners,” he said.
Opposition Senate leader Michaelia Cash said Hanson’s comments were inappropriate and the Coalition rejected them, but said the motion of no confidence should be used with caution.
“Every Australian, regardless of race, religion or background, belongs to this country, and that is something no senator in this house should ever question,” Cash said.
“However… formal condemnation is one of the most serious reviews this parliament can undertake and should be treated as such,” he said.
Cash referred to Labor senator Anthony Chisholm’s earlier argument that the move should not be a default response.
“Exams are generally reserved for behavior related to parliamentary and ministerial responsibility,” Cash said.
He also noted comments from former Senate leader George Brandis, who said censure should be “rare and measured” and not routinely used to score political points.
Last year the Coalition moved to condemn Thorpe for comments at a rally in Melbourne in which he suggested he would “burn down Parliament House to make a point”; these remarks were later investigated and rejected by the Australian Federal Police, but the motion was not passed.
At the session on November 18, 2024, there was bipartisan support for the condemnation of two senators: King George III at a ceremony in the great hall of Parliament. Thorpe for offending Charles and United Australia Party MP Ralph Babet for tweeting racist and homophobic slurs.
Labor has also condemned former prime minister Scott Morrison for secretly appointing him to multiple ministries since taking office in 2022. The former Coalition government last condemned an MP (former cabinet minister Bruce Bilson) in 2018.
On Monday, Hanson called Wong’s motion a gimmick, accused the media of misrepresenting his comments and called the government “gutless” for failing to combat religious extremism.
Hanson turned to Thorpe, clapped him on the wrist, said, “Are you happy? This is a joke,” and stormed out of the chamber with the One Nation senators before the vote.
Hanson’s comments were condemned by many across the political spectrum, from the prime minister who attributed Hanson’s comments to escalating threats of violence, to Nationals senator Matt Canavan, who said he was unfit to lead a party.
Earlier on Monday, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said Australia’s Muslim community was experiencing increased levels of Islamophobia after a 20-year-old West Australian man was accused of planning a terror attack targeting mosques.
“Every elected official who claims to care about national security has a responsibility to lower the temperature,” Burke told the House of Representatives.
“Every act of bigotry goes against who we are as Australians… Every Australian Muslim has the right to be safe and feel safe, just like every other Australian.”
Brittany Busch is the federal politics correspondent for The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.
