Senator Pauline Hanson's repeat burqa stunt continues to provoke condemnation this morning, with Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek linking the One Nation leader's actions to racist bullying.
Hanson wore the burqa in the senate yesterday, minutes after the government refused to grant her leave to table a bill to ban full face-covering outfits in Australia.
It's the second time Hanson has donned the outfit, the first time being in 2017, to a chorus of similar ire.
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This morning, Plibersek told Today it was "disappointing behaviour" and that she didn't know what Hanson's point was.
"I don't remember the last time someone in a burqa robbed a bank," she said.
"Two weeks ago, there was a queue of neo-Nazis standing outside NSW Parliament House, and I didn't hear her joining with ASIO to admit that the fastest growing source of danger in the Australian community is right-wing extremism.
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"The only thing that she's ensured today is that some schoolgirl wearing a headscarf is going to get bullied on the train on the way to school."
Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth dismissed the stunt as "shenanigans" typically seen in the last sitting week of parliament for the year.
Greens leader Larissa Waters doubled down on her condemnation from yesterday, calling it a "pathetic stunt".
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"I'm all for re-wearing outfits, but not when it's an outfit that's insulting to anyone of faith in the country, and insulting to anyone who wants parliament to actually help people and fix the cost of living and bring down the cost of housing," she said.
"It's shameless attention seeking that doesn't actually help anyone or make anyone's lives better.
"It actually just fuels racism. It's dangerous and pathetic."
Hanson attracted criticism from all sides, with Nationals Senator Matt Canavan, Independent Senator Fatima Payman, and Australia's Islamophobia envoy Aftab Malik all slamming the burqa stunt.
But the One Nation leader claimed her critics were "hypocrites" in a press release yesterday afternoon, claiming without providing examples that Greens members were allowed to wear "symbols of terrorism" in parliament without censure.
"This is not about religious expression. This is about community safety, national security, women's rights, public civility and social cohesion," she said.
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