Australia’s Senate censures senator over anti-Muslim remarks
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson walks out during debate on a censure motion in the Senate chamber at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, March 2, 2026. (Reuters Photo)


Australia’s Senate voted Monday to censure far-right politician Pauline Hanson for making what lawmakers called "inflammatory and divisive” comments about Muslim people during a debate on the potential return of Australian relatives of Daesh terrorists from Syria.

"They ⁠hate Westerners, and that's what it's all about. You say there's great Muslims out there, ​well I'm sorry, how can you tell ​me ⁠there are good Muslims?" Hanson said in an interview with Sky News in February.

Penny Wong, leader of Australia's center-left Labor government in the Senate, moved the censure motion against Hanson, who leads the anti-immigration One Nation party.

The motion called on the Senate to censure Hanson for her "inflammatory and divisive comments seeking to vilify Muslim Australians, which do not reflect ⁠the ⁠opinions of the Australian Senate or the Australian people."

It passed with the support of the minor Greens party and two senators from the conservative Liberal party who crossed the floor.

"This censure motion is about drawing a line and sending a message to the people of faith in this country and sending ⁠a message to children in this country that your leaders believe that condemning an entire religion is not acceptable," Wong said.

Hanson called ​the motion a "stunt" before storming out of the chamber.

A ​senator for Queensland, Hanson first rose to prominence in the 1990s because of her strident ⁠opposition ‌to immigration from ‌Asia and to asylum seekers.

She ⁠has worn a burqa to ‌Parliament twice, most recently in November, in a push to ban ​the public wearing of ⁠the Muslim garment.

Recent opinion polling ⁠shows Hanson's One Nation has overtaken the country's conservative opposition ⁠coalition, with 28% ​of the primary vote amid rising support for anti-immigration policies.