Bipartisan censure of Anning’s racist rant

THE Government and Opposition will combine to censure independent Senator Fraser Anning when Parliament resumes next month — and Prime Minister Scott Morrison has demanded he face the “full force of the law” for his violent response following his egging by a Melbourne teenager.

Senator Anning was also heckled at Brisbane airport on Saturday and was confronted by protesters while attending the Brisbane Gun Show, as the outrage surrounding his comments — that the massacre in Christchurch was the result of New Zealand’s immigration program — continued to grow.

The censure motion carries no practical penalty and won’t result in his removal or suspension from Parliament, but is regarded as a condemnation of his behaviour.

Jointly released by Government Leader in the Senate Mathias Cormann and Labor’s Senate Opposition Leader Penny Wong, it says the Senate “censures Senator Anning for his inflammatory and divisive comments seeking to attribute blame to victims of a horrific crime and to vilify people on the basis of religion, which do not reflect the opinions of the Australian Senate or the Australian people’’.

The condemnation was welcomed by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who said Senator Anning’s comments “were a disgrace”.

A record Change.org petition to kick Senator Anning out of Parliament has gathered more than 940,000 signatures, while his altercation with the teenager is grabbing global attention.

The 17-year-old boy released a video on social media saying “don’t egg politicians’’.

“You’ll get tackled by 30 bogans at the same time,” he said. “I learnt the hard way.”