One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, accusing him of refusing to identify "radical Islam" as the core issue following the Bondi Beach terror attack last year.
A 'Fundamentally Compromised' Inquiry
In a fiery statement issued on Friday, Hanson labelled the recently announced Royal Commission into antisemitism as "fundamentally compromised" and "a waste" of time and resources. She argued it would fail unless it directly probed the extremist ideology that allegedly inspired the gunmen.
"Prime Minister Albanese refused to say three words while calling his Royal Commission: Radical. Islamic. Terrorism," Hanson wrote. She claimed the PM had "failed a basic test of leadership" by sidestepping the terminology many Australians expected to hear.
Calls for Broader Policy Scrutiny
Hanson asserted that the inquiry's current terms of reference, which concentrate on agency procedures, miss the chance to tackle broader issues of prevention and long-term policy failure. She insisted any serious review must scrutinise decades of government decisions.
"A proper Royal Commission should be investigating how radical Islam has been allowed to flourish in Australia," she stated. "This Commission will achieve nothing unless the government is willing to look at policy on immigration, citizenship, and how radicalisation has slipped through the cracks."
She called for a sweeping review of who has been allowed into Australia over the past 30 years, questioning whether new arrivals would assimilate or seek to undermine the country.
Renewed Push on Face Coverings and Security
The senator, who famously wore a burqa into the Senate in 2017, also renewed her push for tougher policies on face coverings in public. She accused the government of being "too timid" on public safety and demanded the Commission examine whether current laws balance cultural expression with security needs in courts, airports, and schools.
"The burqa, a tool of Islamic extremist oppression, should be banned in Australia," Hanson said. "We're not even allowed to debate something as basic as whether face-covering clothing belongs in a modern Australian society when security is at stake."
Her comments stand in contrast to the Prime Minister's announcement. While confirming the inquiry would look into "religious extremism" and radical hate preachers, Albanese notably avoided specifically mentioning Islam during his statement on Thursday.
Hanson's position found some political support. Nationals Leader David Littleproud stated Australia had an "extreme Islamic ideological problem" and accused the Labor government of "running away from the problem" for three years.
