Pauline Hanson has spent decades brushing off accusations of racism. On Monday, the Federal Court told her, for the second time, that her tweets were exactly that.
The One Nation leader has failed to overturn a ruling that she racially vilified fellow senator Mehreen Faruqi when she told her to “piss off back to Pakistan”.
The Full Court of the Federal Court dismissed Senator Hanson’s appeal on Monday, almost four years after the tweet that started the fight.
It began the day Queen Elizabeth II died. Senator Faruqi, deputy leader of the Greens, posted her condolences to those who knew the monarch, but wrote she could not mourn the passing of the leader of a “racist empire built on stolen lives, land and wealth of colonised peoples”.
Senator Hanson hit back hard. She wrote that she was appalled and disgusted.
“When you immigrated to Australia you took every advantage of this country,” she wrote.
“It’s clear you’re not happy, so pack your bags and piss off back to Pakistan.”
Justice Angus Stewart found in 2024 that the remark breached racial discrimination law. He ruled it was “seriously offensive” and a “strong form of racism”.
Senator Hanson appealed, with her barrister arguing the comment might have been unpleasant, but did not amount to intimidating people of colour. The Full Court did not agree, and threw the appeal out.
Senator Faruqi said the victory was an important blow against far-right fuelled racism.
“This win today is for every single person out there who has been told ‘to go back to where you came from’, for every person who has been made to feel that their belonging to this country is conditional, for every person who has been told to sit down, shut up and be grateful that you are here,” she said.
“For me, this case was always about holding racism and its perpetrators to account. It was always about taking a step to dismantle racism and the structures that uphold it.”
“One Nation and Pauline Hanson’s racism have harmed too many for too long.”
It is not the only time the pair have clashed. Senator Faruqi has accused Senator Hanson of blatant racism and Islamophobia over her decision to wear a burqa into parliament, a stunt she has now pulled twice, most recently just six days after the appeal hearing in November.
Senator Hanson, 72, has faced fresh criticism since returning from a European trip, where she was seen holidaying in Italy with billionaire donor Gina Rinehart. She also met anti-immigration activist and convicted criminal Tommy Robinson and told a conservative conference that Australia had been flooded with migrants.
Since coming home, she has drawn fire for describing domestic violence as a “two-way street”, comments she insists were taken out of context.
Member for New England Barnaby Joyce, now being called the “cleanup guy” for how frequently he is called upon to explain his leader’s comments and actions, has been noticeably uncomfortable about Hanson’s racist remarks.
The controversies have not helped her at the ballot box. A Roy Morgan poll published on Tuesday showed One Nation’s primary vote had dipped more than five percentage points to 22.5 per cent in the space of a week. Whether the novelty has worn off will be most readily tested at
The full reasons of the court for dismissing the appeal will be posted online at a later date. Hanson has posted a social media video saying she would meet with hter lawyers with a view to making a further appeal to the High Court.
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