Politics live: Pauline Hanson burqa stunt slammed by George Brandis

Time for me to wrap up. What happened?

• for a few hours today looked as if things might be a little quieter than the rest of the week;
• the government introduced legislation to increase the Medicare levy into the House of Representatives;
• negotiations between the government and crossbenchers about media industry changes continued;
• citizenship was discussed but it wasn't as smoking hot as it was;
• but then One Nation senator Pauline Hanson wore a burqa into Senate question time;
• Attorney-General George Brandis said her stunt was offensive and ignorant; and
• Senator Brandis was given a standing ovation by Labor and Greens senators.

What can I say? It's been a truly weird week - and fortnight.

My thanks to Alex Ellinghausen and Andrew Meares to their superb work today and to you for reading and commenting.

You can follow me on Facebook.

Alex, Andrew and I will be back - with Parliament - on September 4. Until we meet again - go well. 

But the Senate sits on and Senator Hanson is talking about the burqa. Again.

She wants to know why Australia cannot ban "full face coverings".

Senator Hanson starts talking about the "Muslim vote".

The speech is basically a longer version of her radio interview.

And a collective sigh of relief has gone around the building as the House of Representatives adjourns until Monday September 4.

Dr Aly, a counter terrorism expert before she went into politics, says only a "really, really, really small minority" of women wear the burqa "and I've yet to see any evidence that links that, tiny, tiny tiny minority to any kind of security threat".

Dr Aly told Sky News Senator Hanson made a "'mockery" of Parliament.

"It was a stunt designed to get attention for Pauline Hanson because that's all she wants," Dr Aly said.

Labor MP Anne Aly says she is not personally offended by the stunt but she is offended by anyone who picks on minority groups.

"Newsflash - Muslims around Australia don't sit around waiting to see what Pauline Hanson will do next," Dr Aly says.

Dr Aly says Senator Hanson doesn't care about the plight of Muslim women overseas, "she doesn't want them here".

National security correspondent David Wroe has some thoughts about Senator Hanson's speech.

"ASIO head Duncan Lewis says it until he's blue in the face. His predecessor David Irvine was just as staunch," David writes.

"Australia's Muslim communities are the best ally our security agencies have in their fight against violent Islamist extremism. Alienating them only severs a vital conduit of intelligence and potentially breeds more angry, isolated people vulnerable to corrupted views."

Senator Hanson is speaking in the Senate.

She was supposed to be speaking on the burqa but she's back on another favourite topic - excessive corporate salaries.

"Today our parliament showed leadership when it was needed," Senator Wong said.

"It is one thing to wear religious dress as an act of faith. It is another to wear it as a stunt. That can only give offence and divide."

"Nobody needs to defend Senator Hanson's right to speak. The people that need defending are the people she attacks."

"Leaders have an obligation to stand up for the people in Australia who do not have a voice and today the Parliament did so."

Labor senator Penny Wong has put out a statement about what happened in the Senate a short time ago.

"On behalf of all Labor senators, and of all fair-minded Australians, I thank the Leader of the Government in the Senate, Senator George Brandis, for his words today."

"The sort of bigotry and divisiveness we saw displayed by Senator Hanson today has no place in our society. It certainly has no place in our parliament."

Senator Cash leaves the press conference after more questions about the behaviour of government senators: "I believe the Attorney General has made the position of the government clear and that is all of us should treat each other with respect but, again, if there are no more westerns on jobs, thank you very much."

Employment Minister Michaelia Cash is asked at a press conference about jobs why government senators didn't stand to applaud Senator Brandis.

"I think the Attorney-General has made the Australian government's position clear," she says.

"I am not going to be distracted by what happened in the Senate today."

Independent senator Nick Xenophon was not in the chamber for question time.

"If I was, I too would have stood up and applauded along with my colleagues for the statement of Senator Brandis in response to Senator Hanson's toxic behaviour. Senator Brandis spoke
like a true statesman. He displayed the leadership and clarity of purpose that this country needs on issues such as this. Good on you, George."

Senator Hanson says she put the burqa on her office, walked down the corridor and into the chamber.

No security guards at any time asked to see my face."

"When I walked into the chamber, one of the attendants in the chamber just gasped and they said 'it's alright it's Senator Hanson'," she said.

Her colleague, Brian Burston, told people who she was.

Senator Hanson says the idea was hers and she has thought about it for months.

She says wearing the burqa is "really horrible" and "uncomfortable".

"I just felt cut off from the rest of the world," she says.

Senator Hanson: "We're spending $16 million for security here at Parliament House yet here we are, anyone can work into that Parliament covered up, we wouldn't know who they were."

She says people were "gasping" when she walked into the chamber.

Senator Hanson has gone straight from the chamber to a radio interview.

"Is it extreme? Yes. Is it getting my message across? I hope so....No better place to start than the Parliament."

Senate question time finishes.

Greens' senators walk over to Senator Brandis to shake his hand.

Education Minister Simon Birmingham pats him on the back.

Greens leader Richard Di Natale would like to know if the government will "consider the establishment of a multicultural act to enshrine in law protections for multicultural communities for religious communities right across the country".

Senator Brandis refers to the Racial Discrimination Act and protections of religious freedom.

He says when it comes to Parliament "I think this chamber and the other place is well able to by its own will indicate its support for and respect of all faiths and cultures".

Senator Di Natale uses his final question on the issue to "actually congratulate the Attorney-General on his strong, impassioned, personal response and on behalf of the Australian Greens I want to
thank you for showing leadership in this Chamber, leadership that is so often lacking in this Parliament".

Senator Hanson has a supplementary question: "If a person who wears a balaclava or a helmet into a bank or any other building or on the floor of a court they must be removed. Why isn't it 
the same for someone who is covering up their face and cannot be identified? Will the government make changes to the laws?"

Senator Brandis: "No."

Labor senator Penny Wong: "I make this point on behalf of all of us on this side of the chamber, it is one thing to wear religious dress as a sincere act of faith, there is another to wear it as a stunt here in the chamber."