Pauline Hanson appeal rejected in racial discrimination case
Australia’s Full Federal Court upheld a finding that Pauline Hanson racially discriminated against Senator Mehreen Faruqi.
By Lucas Ferreira · Science & Environment Writer
3 min read
Pauline Hanson’s appeal against a racial discrimination ruling has been rejected unanimously by Australia’s Full Federal Court, leaving in place a finding that she unlawfully targeted Muslim senator Mehreen Faruqi. The decision matters because the court also rejected Hanson’s argument that her post was protected by free speech defences.
Hanson, the leader of the anti-migrant One Nation party, was found in 2024 to have breached racial discrimination laws after she told Faruqi to “pack your bags and p*** off back to Pakistan,” Al Jazeera and Reuters reported. The comment was made in a social media post two years earlier, on the day Queen Elizabeth II died.
According to Al Jazeera and Reuters, Hanson’s post responded to Faruqi’s statement that she could not mourn “the leader of a racist empire built on stolen lives, land and wealth of colonised peoples.”
Why did Pauline Hanson lose her appeal?
The three-judge Full Federal Court said on Monday that Hanson had not established any of her appeal grounds. The court said the comment was unlawful and was not saved by the free speech arguments Hanson advanced.
The court said it agreed with the 2024 judgment, which described Hanson’s post as carrying an anti-Muslim and Islamophobic message. It also accepted the earlier court’s view that the post was a form of the historically racist, nativist and anti-immigrant demand that people “go back to where you came from.”
The Full Federal Court further said the relevant law was constitutionally valid. It said Hanson had not made out a defence based on fair comment on a matter of public interest.
Outside court in Sydney, Faruqi said: “Today, justice has prevailed.” She added that the outcome was for people who had been told to go back to where they came from, according to Al Jazeera and Reuters.
Faruqi also said the court had confirmed that Hanson engaged in racism, Islamophobia and hate. “Hate speech is not free speech, and the Federal Court has reaffirmed that today,” she said.
What happens next in the Hanson case?
Hanson said she and her legal team would study the ruling and planned to seek an appeal in the High Court, Australia’s final court of appeal. She defended public expression in a post on X, saying Australian public debate had been silenced by laws and rules that stop ordinary people from airing personal views when others may feel offence, hurt or distress.
Hanson wrote that such limits had never been, and should not be, “the Australian way.”
One Nation was founded in 1997 and was long viewed as a fringe party, according to Al Jazeera and Reuters. The outlet reported that Hanson’s hard line on immigration has gained more support in recent polls.
Hanson has argued for ending multiculturalism in Australia, saying the country should be “monocultural,” Al Jazeera and Reuters reported.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.