Pauline Hanson thinks she speaks for the mainstream but her burqa stunt shows she is a bit player with bad instincts | Tom McIlroy

While banning the burqa might play with the Sky After Dark audience, it is miles from a broad concern among punters

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early 30 years after she first entered politics with a firebrand maiden speech about Asian immigration, Pauline Hanson remains a committed fringe dweller, with narrow political interests and bad instincts.

Suspended from the Senate on Tuesday, her decision to don a burqa in the chamber a day earlier badly disrupted proceedings and drew near universal condemnation. It is only the fifth time since 1901 that a seven-day suspension has been put in place, and the first time since 1979.

Prompted by the refusal of Labor and the Coalition to entertain her latest push for a bill to ban face coverings in public, the stunt was a replay from 2017, and shows her political playbook is threadbare – even when One Nation’s parliamentary ranks are at a record high and the party’s primary vote is polling at nearly 20%.