Senator Fatima Payman has accused Pauline Hanson of being racist before being forced to withdraw the remark after her eligibility to sit in parliament was repeatedly questioned by the One Nation leader.
This morning, Hanson tried to table her correspondence with the president of the Senate about Payman’s dual citizenship and whether she is allowed to sit in parliament.
Hanson said she would also move a motion this afternoon to vote on whether the matter should be investigated by the standing committee of senators’ interests.
“I will stand my ground on this issue,” Hanson said in the Senate.
“I will do this again and again and again. I will do it today, be prepared for it.”
Payman labelled Hanson as racist but was forced to withdraw the comment.
She then quoted several of Hanson’s remarks including one made during her maiden speech in which she said: “We are in danger of being swamped by Asians.”
“If that is not racism, what is it?” a furious Payman said as she slammed her hand down.
“You’re not just vindictive, mean, nasty. You bring disgrace to the human race.
“I kept on giving you the benefit of the doubt, Senator Hanson, despite your repetitive attempts to be racist to anyone who does not look like you.”
Hanson requested the comments to be withdrawn while Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe yelled, “You are a convicted racist” at her.
Thorpe appeared to throw papers towards Hanson and later stormed out of the Senate with her middle finger up at her colleagues.
Thorpe and the Greens sided with Payman to prevent the document from being tabled but Labor and the opposition voted it through.
Both sides stressed their reason for doing so was procedural and not because they supported the substance of the document.
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher added that the “30-minute very destructive debate… didn’t need to happen”.
Why did the debate start?
Hanson has raised concerns over Payman’s dual citizenship.
Payman was born in Afghanistan and gained Australian citizenship after she moved here when she was eight in 2003.
She was elected to the Senate representing Labor in Western Australia in 2022 but dramatically quit in July.
She has since launched her own party, Australia’s Voice.
Hanson has referenced section 44 of the Constitution, which states foreign citizens and dual citizens cannot sit in parliament.
Payman has made efforts to renounce her citizenship with Afghanistan but has been unable to have her request granted by the Taliban-controlled government.
In Senate today, Payman said Hanson should talk to the Taliban personally on the matter.
“Senator Hanson has worn the burqa in this place. Maybe it’s time she packs her burqa and go to Afghanistan and talk to the Taliban about this,” she said.
Payman was referencing Hanson’s stunt when arrived in the Senate dressed in a black burqa in 2017.
Motion to review racism in parliament
The confrontation in the Senate today came just days after Thorpe and Greens Deputy Leader Mehreen Faruqi moved a motion to investigate racism in parliament.
They want the standing committee on procedures to hold an inquiry and report back by March 31, 2025.
”It’s simply not safe if you are a woman of colour,” Thorpe said on Monday.
“In here, it is easy to fling around racism and racist commentary but when you dare call out racism and the double standards used in this place, you are shut down, you are silenced and you are gaslighted,” Faruqi said, also on Monday.
Faruqi earlier this month won a Federal Court lawsuit against Hanson over a post on X telling her to “piss off back to Pakistan”.
Their motion will need the support of their colleagues when it comes to a vote.
