Federal Court Dismisses Pauline Hanson Appeal Over Racial Remark Toward Senator Mehreen Faruqi

The Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia has upheld a 2024 finding that One Nation leader Pauline Hanson racially abused Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi in a 2022 tweet following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. A three-judge panel dismissed Hanson's appeal and agreed the comment was a variant of the historically racist slogan telling people to 'go back to where you came from.'

In 2022 Ms Faruqi, who emigrated from Pakistan in 1992 and is the first Muslim woman to serve in any Australian parliament, said she could not mourn the monarch because she viewed the British Empire as built on 'stolen lives, land and wealth of colonised peoples.' In response, Ms Hanson posted a message that included the phrase 'p--- off to Pakistan' and accused Ms Faruqi of having 'took every advantage of this country'.

Mehreen Faruqi, a Greens senator, was the first Muslim woman to become a member of any Australian parliament - Hilary Wardhaugh/Getty Images

A landmark judgment in 2024 concluded the post was likely to offend, insult, humiliate and intimidate Ms Faruqi and other Muslims, breaching federal anti-discrimination law. The Full Court on Monday agreed the earlier decision had been correctly characterised and said the law itself was constitutionally valid. The bench also found Ms Hanson did not establish a defence of fair comment on a matter of public interest.

Ms Faruqi: 'We have 434 paragraphs dismissing Pauline Hanson's appeal, confirming that indeed Pauline Hanson behaved in racism, Islamophobia, and hate. Hate speech is not free speech.'

Ms Hanson said she was disappointed with the outcome and argued that public discussion had been 'almost totally silenced by laws and rules which prevent ordinary people expressing their personal views.' She said her legal team would review the decision and indicated she may seek leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia.

Political Context

One Nation, founded in 1997 and long viewed as a fringe party, has won wider support in recent polls. In May the party captured a seat in the House of Representatives for the first time, taking 39% of the vote in the rural New South Wales seat of Farrer. Ms Hanson has a history of controversial statements about immigration and multiculturalism, including her maiden speech three decades ago and a recent parliamentary suspension after wearing a burka during a debate as part of a campaign to ban the garment.

This ruling underscores that, under Australian law as interpreted by the federal courts, public expression that targets individuals or groups in a way likely to offend, humiliate or intimidate can amount to unlawful racial discrimination.