Australia Should Be Honest About What the Burqa Represents Pauline Hanson’s burqa stunt was theatrical, although the concern behind it is legitimate. Fatima Payman’s response that the burqa “didn’t raise your rent” or “cause the housing crisis” completely misses the point. It reduces a serious cultural question to a throwaway economic slogan, as if Australians think only in dollars and never in values. The burqa is not a neutral garment. It comes from societies where women are treated as subordi