One Nation senator Pauline Hanson has been branded an 'absolute scumbag' during a heated parliamentary debate over a tweet she posted targeting Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi. The Greens introduced a motion on Tuesday to censure Hanson for what they described as a 'divisive, anti-migrant and racist statement' telling Faruqi to 'piss off back to Pakistan'.
Labor and the Coalition amended the motion, removing Hanson's name and her comments, replacing them with a general call for respectful debate. The amendment, co-sponsored by Senate leaders Penny Wong and Simon Birmingham, asked senators 'to engage in debates and commentary respectfully, and to refrain from inflammatory and divisive comments'.
During the debate, Hanson refused to retract her statement and doubled down, saying she would 'take [Faruqi] to the airport'. This prompted Greens senator Jordon Steele-John to call her an 'absolute scumbag'. The Senate president, Sue Lines, had to pause the debate several times due to interruptions.
The controversy began on 9 September, the day of Queen Elizabeth II's death, when Faruqi tweeted that she could not mourn 'the leader of a racist empire'. Hanson quote-tweeted the post, telling Faruqi to 'pack your bags and piss off back to Pakistan'. Faruqi said she and her family had been subjected to racist hate speech following Hanson's tweet.
Faruqi criticised the amendment, saying it let Hanson 'off scot-free' and gave her 'a free pass to do this again and again'. Hanson denied exhibiting racist behaviour and accused the Greens of hypocrisy and intimidation. She also referred to her past claim that Australia would be 'swamped by Asians' and claimed European migrants had worn the epithet 'wog' as a 'badge of honour'.
