An Australian court on Monday rejected an appeal by far-right Senator Pauline Hanson against a ruling that found her comments telling a Muslim lawmaker to “go back to Pakistan” amounted to racial vilification.
Hanson, leader of the One Nation party, had made the remarks in 2022 in response to Pakistan-born Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi’s comments following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Faruqi had said she could not mourn the “leader of a racist empire built on stolen lives, land and wealth of colonised people”.
Responding on social media, Hanson wrote: “When you immigrated to Australia you took every advantage of this country. You took citizenship, bought multiple homes, and a job in a parliament. It’s clear you’re not happy, so pack your bags and piss off back to Pakistan.”
In 2024, Australia’s Federal Court ruled that Hanson’s post constituted a “strong form of racism” and breached the country’s anti-discrimination laws. The court found the comments were reasonably likely to offend, insult, humiliate and intimidate Faruqi, as well as Muslim Australians and migrants from diverse racial backgrounds.
Hanson challenged the decision, arguing that her remarks did not violate the law and that the legislation itself was unconstitutional. However, the appeal court dismissed those arguments and upheld the earlier ruling.
Following the judgment, Hanson defended her actions, saying: “I was incensed by the incredible disrespect that I felt was shown to our late Queen on the day of her death by Senator Faruqi and others.
“I simply wanted to call that out.”
Once considered a fringe political figure, Hanson has seen her One Nation party gain support in recent opinion polls. She has campaigned on stricter immigration policies, mass deportations of undocumented migrants, expanded free speech protections, major government spending cuts similar to Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and a review of Australia’s participation in international organisations.
