One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has lost an appeal against a judgment that found she breached the Racial Discrimination Act through comments she made about Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi.
The court upheld the finding that Senator Hanson engaged in racial discrimination when she tweeted that Senator Faruqi should “pack your bags and piss off back to Pakistan”. Senator Hanson was responding to a post Senator Faruqi made following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
In November 2024, Justice Angus Stewart found Senator Hanson had engaged in “seriously offensive” and intimidating behaviour when she made the post in September 2022. On Monday, an appeal court comprising Federal Court justices Melissa Perry, Geoffrey Kennett and Elizabeth Bennett upheld that ruling.
Senator Hanson responded to the decision in a social media post, describing the outcome as “disappointing” and indicating she was considering an appeal to the High Court.
“Public discussion in Australia has become almost totally silenced by laws and rules which prevent ordinary people expressing their personal views in case some small part of our society takes some sort of offence or feels hurt or ‘distressed’. This has never been, nor ever should be, the Australian way,” Senator Hanson said.
Senator Hanson said people should be free to express their views, even if others disagree with them.
Speaking outside the court, Senator Faruqi said the outcome was a victory for “every single person out there who has been told to go back where you came from”.
“(Senator Hanson) did engage in racist and Islamophobic behaviour, she continues to engage in racist and Islamophobic behaviour,” Senator Faruqi said.
“This case today is our fight back against the far right.”
The court has reserved its decision on costs, which are expected to amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees.
