Anning is known for holding far-right, nativist, and anti-Muslim views,[5][6] and has been criticised for his use of the Nazi euphemism for the Holocaust, when he proposed a plebiscite to be the "Final Solution" to "the immigration problem" in his maiden speech.
Anning also generated controversy for his statements shortly after the Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand, in which he blamed the attacks on "the immigration program which allowed Muslim fanatics to migrate".
He is a direct descendant of Charles Cumming Stone Anning, a pastoral squatter who immigrated to the Australian colonies in the mid-19th century to acquire landholdings.
[14] The Annings at times also requested the services of the local Native Police paramilitary unit to assist in clearing "blacks" off their runs.
[15] Frank Hann, another pastoralist in the region who regularly participated in extrajudicial punitive raids on Aboriginals, described in his diary in 1874 that he saw "Anning [coming] back from hunting blacks".
[22][23] Anning introduced a private members' bill calling for less stringent import laws for mace, pepper spray and tasers, to "allow women to defend themselves".
It was supported by David Leyonhjelm, Peter Georgiou, Cory Bernardi and Brian Burston, but rejected by both major parties and the Greens.
[26] Anning stated in a Senate speech that he believed Safe Schools was "sexually deviant propaganda" and undermined "the white family".
In October 2017, during the parliamentary eligibility crisis, the Court of Disputed Returns ruled Roberts was ineligible to be elected to the Senate due to his failure to renounce his British citizenship.
[39] Prior to his elevation to the Senate, he was facing bankruptcy legal action due to money owed to the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank.
[4] Upon his swearing in to the Senate on 13 November 2017, Anning was vouched for (a parliamentary custom indicating that the new member is who he claims to be)[40] by two crossbenchers from other parties: Cory Bernardi (Australian Conservatives) and David Leyonhjelm (Liberal Democrats).
It was also unclear whether Hanson intended to expel Anning solely from the parliamentary group or the wider organisational party as well.
Anning went on to criticise the Safe Schools Coalition of Australia, as "gender fluidity garbage" and "cultural Marxism".
[48] He also condemned what he described as the abuse of the external affairs power of the Australian constitution, and spoke in support of a fundamental right of civilians to own firearms, and the Bradfield Scheme irrigation proposal.
[56][57][58] Anning was sharply criticised for his comments following the Christchurch mosque shootings, which occurred in New Zealand on 15 March 2019, during which 51 Muslim worshippers were killed.
[63] On the day following the incident, Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison criticised Anning, arguing that "the full force of the law" should be applied to the senator.
[66] The money was held by a law firm acting without fee and on 27 May, Connolly announced that a total of $99,922 had been donated to two funds providing for the victims of the Christchurch shooting.
[33][70] Anning said he would "be announcing candidates across most lower house seats" and "running a Senate team in every state" for the 2019 election.
[33] On 26 April 2019, during the 2019 Federal Election campaign, Anning used the site of the 2005 Cronulla race riots in Sydney to announce his party's candidates for New South Wales.
[10] Adrian David Cheok was a candidate for the Fraser Anning's Conservative National Party,[74] receiving 0.79% of the vote in the Adelaide division of Boothby.