A prominent Australian hard-right politician has lost an appeal in a racial vilification case stemming from comments made about a Muslim senator.
Senator Pauline Hanson, a figure known for advocating strict immigration controls and mass deportations, was found by the Federal Court of Australia in 2024 to have engaged in racial vilification when she told Pakistan-born Senator Mehreen Faruqi to "pack your bags and piss off back to Pakistan." The initial ruling, which found Hanson's remarks constituted a "strong form of racism" in breach of the Racial Discrimination Act, also ordered her to delete the social media post containing the comments and to pay Senator Faruqi's legal costs.
Hanson's appeal, which was lodged on free speech grounds, was dismissed on Monday. The comments were made in 2022 following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, after Senator Faruqi posted that she could not mourn the "leader of a racist empire built on stolen lives, land and wealth of colonized people."
Following the dismissal of her appeal, Hanson stated she 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" and that she "simply wanted to call that out."
Hanson's political party, One Nation, has seen a surge in popularity in recent opinion polls, with Hanson herself emerging as one of Australia's most popular politicians. She has previously campaigned on promises of significant government spending cuts and has called for Australia to reconsider its international affiliations.
The legal proceedings have been costly for Hanson. Her chief of staff, James Ashby, reported that the case had already incurred costs between $1.6 million and $2 million, describing the litigation as an "attack on free speech." Ashby indicated that the team is considering seeking special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia, though they have a limited timeframe to do so. A former Federal Court judge reportedly described the ruling as "intellectually dishonest and lazy."