Pauline Hanson calls for swastika ban in Australia

Pauline Hanson has called for a ban on hate symbols like swastikas, sparking warnings from civil libertarians.

Senator Hanson said Prime Minister Scott Morrison should work on creating laws to forbid the display of symbols like the swastika and the ISIS flag.

"I think it's offensive, I think it's insulting, and I think it's intimidating," Senator Hanson said.

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"Australians do not like racism and they do not like hatred."

Senator Hanson, in her maiden speech to Parliament in 1996, claimed Australia was in danger of being "swamped by Asians".

When she entered the Senate in 2016, she called for a halt to Muslim immigration and the banning of the burqa.

Civil libertarians have said a legal ban on hate symbols could be a dangerous move that might have serious consequences on freedom of speech.

"The fact is, freedom of speech in a free society means that you have to cop some images, such as those flags, that you find personally offensive," lawyer Terry O'Gorman said.

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Senator Hanson recently showed support for embattled government backbencher Craig Kelly over his attempt to lobby the government to look into alternate COVID-19 treatments.

Mr O'Gorman said Mr Kelly also had a right to speak on the subject.

"The fact is that Craig Kelly has a right to be fundamentally wrong, and, some people would say, fundamentally stupidly wrong," he said.