By Nic White In Canberra For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 02:40 EDT, 8 September 2022 | Updated: 03:36 EDT, 8 September 2022

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young's protest dress at the Midwinter Ball was made from a 50-year-old tablecloth and bits of a handbag.

The eye-catching white gown with 'End Gas and Coal' scrawled on the back was part of a protest by herself and party leader Adam Bandt.

Many who saw the bold outfit thought it looked homemade from a curtain, and Senator Hanson-Young revealed they were close.

'The body of the dress is made from a 50-year-old damask table cloth, and the lettering is made from a fast fashion handbag that had fallen apart,' she said.

Sarah Hanson-Young makes a showcase entrance to the Midwinter Ball with a long white dress decorated with a call to 'end gas and coal'

The body of the dress is made from a 50-year-old damask table cloth, and the lettering is made from a fast fashion handbag that had fallen apart

'The black and white lace at the bottom represents the murkiness of coal, hidden by the flimsy veils of greenwashing.'

The outspoken MP said it represented the urgent need to take a stand against fossil fuels and protect the planet. 

'What we don't need right now is window dressing on climate. We need to end new coal and gas,' she said.

Senator Hanson-Young's dress was made by Adelaide artist Liz Cahalan, who described the project as a 'labour of love'.

'Climate action is a cause I don't want to have to hold dear to my heart, but I must. I can't look my daughter and her peers in the eye knowing I didn't do everything I could to raise awareness of the crisis we're in and try to wake people up. And that why I said "yes" to this dress,' she said.

Nationals senator Matt Canavan accused her of hypocrisy because the zipper on the back of the dress was made with either polyester or nylon, both of which are bad for the environment

The eye-catching white gown with 'End Gas and Coal' scrawled on the back was part of a protest by herself and party leader Adam Bandt

'I'm so grateful to Sarah for thinking of me and instantly knowing I would understand the brief. I hope I did her justice.'

However, not everyone was pleased with the dress, including Nationals senator Matt Canavan, who accused her of hypocrisy.

He pointed out that the zipper on the back of the dress was made with either polyester or nylon, both of which are bad for the environment.

'Our biggest problem is that people don't know how the world works,' he wrote on Facebook.

Senator Jacinta Price replied to the post blasting the pair, writing: 'Some people just don’t have common sense.' 

However, the zipper was recycled from another garment by the ultra-greenie artist.

Greens Leader Adam Bandt (left) is pictured with his partner Claudia Perkins, whose dress is being used as a billboard for her views on environmental policies

Both stunts appeared to be a rip-off of prominent left-wing New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - who wore a similar dress reading 'tax the rich' to a $35,000-per-person Met Gala last year

Mr Bandt's wife Claudia Perkins, who in the past had 'coal kills' shaved into her head, had that slogan and also 'gas kills' written in black and red all over her otherwise white dress as she joined Senator Hanson-Young in the protest.

'I think given we're in a climate crisis it's really appalling that Labor is exploring 114 new gas projects, and we wanted to make that point to as many people as possible at once,' she said. 

Both stunts appeared to be a rip-off of prominent left-wing New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - who wore a similar dress reading 'tax the rich' to a $35,000-per-person Met Gala last year.

Mr Bandt contributed with a pocket square bearing the same words as his wife's dress. 

Like most Australians living close to the economic edge and without buffer, I have been slammed by my gas and electricity bills this year. 

Some days I worry how I will afford the 30-minute drive to work. I am frustrated that, in my rental, I have no choice to make my house energy efficient and environmentally friendly. 

I am furious that our new government maintains strong ties to fossil fuels. I am enraged that our cost of living has skyrocketed because of the grotesque affair between our political leaders and mining companies. 

So much of this could have been avoided with a switch to renewable energy, long overdue, and essential.

On top of this immediate concern, I've been involved in climate activism for some years. I find it not only incomprehensible, but evil that we are not doing all we can to protect the longevity of this planet that has cared so well for us.

Senator Hanson-Young's dress was made by Adelaide artist Liz Cahalan (pictured), who described the project as a 'labour of love'

So I said yes. And as I sewed I ruminated on the issues facing myself, my friends, clients, country, and my child's future.

I used a 50-year-old damask table cloth for the main body of the dress. I thought furiously about how reliance on fossil fuels has taken the food of people's tables.

As I hacked up some old curtains from my rental, I experienced rebellion and catharsis. It felt like defiance and defiance felt good.

I considered the way mining companies hide behind a flimsy veil of greenwashing.

One layer of black curtains referred to the ominous murkiness of coal. No matter the spin, there's no avoiding this dark heart.

And for the lettering, I took a cheap, fast fashion handbag which had fallen apart. Option for convenience over quality, I'd felt guilty for buying this bag at all, and had therefore been unable to discard it. 

Made from fossil fuel-generated fabric in undoubtedly cruel working conditions, my fingers suffered with every stitch forced through this tough and unyielding fabric. 

Someone, somewhere, made this. Out of sight, out of mind doesn't absolve us of the cost of fast fashion. 

Climate action is a cause I don't want to have to hold dear to my heart, but I must. 

I can't look my daughter and her peers in the eye knowing I didn't do everything I could to raise awareness of the crisis we're in and try to wake people up. And that is why I said 'yes' to this dress.

I'm so grateful to Sarah for thinking of me and instantly knowing I would understand the brief. I hope I did her justice.

Time to take a stand against fossil fuels and put every ounce of pressure we can on this new government to do the right thing and protect the planet and the future generations to live with it.

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