Updated ,first published
The Coalition has opposed a parliamentary censure of Pauline Hanson for suggesting there were no good Muslims as the One Nation leader stormed out of the Senate and labelled the proceedings a joke.
Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi and independent Lidia Thorpe accused Labor of weaponising Hanson’s remarks to wedge the opposition, but ultimately supported the motion brought by government leader in the Senate Penny Wong on Monday.
Liberal senators Paul Scarr – recently dumped from the opposition front bench by Angus Taylor – and Andrew McLachlan crossed the floor to vote with the government while the rest of their party opposed the move.
It is Hanson’s second formal censure and does not incur any penalties. Hanson will not be banned from the Senate as she was after being censured and suspended after donning a burqa in the Senate in November.
The return of parliament this week gave the government its first opportunity to rebuke Hanson for her comments to Sky News last month, when she said: “How can you tell me there are good Muslims?”
“Their religion concerns me because what it says in the Koran … they hate Westerners,” she said.
Opposition Senate leader Michaelia Cash said Hanson’s comments were not appropriate and the Coalition rejected them, but that the censure motion should be used sparingly.
“Every Australian, regardless of their race, of their religion, or of their background, belongs in this country, and it is not something that any senator in this chamber should ever put into question,” Cash said.
“However … a formal censure is one of the most serious reviews available to this chamber, and it should be treated as such,” she said.
Cash invoked a previous argument from Labor senator Anthony Chisholm that the move should not become a default response.
“Censures are usually reserved for conduct relating to parliamentary and ministerial responsibility,” Cash said.
She also pointed to comments from former Senate leader George Brandis, who said a censure should be “rare and sober” and not used routinely to score political points.
Last year, the Coalition moved to censure Thorpe for her comments at a rally in Melbourne where she suggested she would “burn down Parliament House to make a point” – remarks which were subsequently investigated and dismissed by the Australian Federal Police, but the motion did not get up.
During the one sitting on November 18, 2024, there was bipartisan support for the censure of two senators: Thorpe for disrupting King Charles III at a ceremony in the parliament’s great hall, and United Australia Party MP Ralph Babet for tweeting racist and homophobic slurs.
Since taking office in 2022, Labor has also censured former prime minister Scott Morrison for secretly appointing himself to multiple ministries. The former Coalition government last censured an MP – ex-cabinet minister Bruce Bilson – in 2018.
On Monday, Hanson labelled Wong’s motion a stunt, accused the media of misreporting her comments, and called the government “gutless” for failing to tackle religious extremism.
Hanson slapped herself on the wrist, turning to Thorpe and saying: “Are you happy? This is a joke,” before storming out of the chamber before the vote with One Nation senators in tow.
Hanson’s comments were condemned by many across the political spectrum, from the prime minister, who linked Hanson’s commentary to increasing threats of violence, to Nationals senator Matt Canavan, who said she wasn’t fit to lead a party.
Earlier on Monday, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the Australian Muslim community was experiencing increased levels of Islamophobia after a 20-year-old WA man was charged with allegedly planning a terrorist attack targeting mosques.
“Every elected official who claims to care about national security has a responsibility to turn the temperature down,” Burke told the House of Representatives.
“Every act of bigotry flies in the face of who we are as Australian … every Australian Muslim, just like every other Australian has a right to be safe and to feel safe.”
Brittany Busch is a federal politics reporter for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.
Nick Newling is a federal politics reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via email.