Pauline Hanson, an Australian politician, faces a legal bill approaching $2 million after her appeal was unanimously dismissed by the Full Federal Court. The court upheld a previous ruling that found Hanson had racially discriminated against Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi with a comment made on social media.
Hanson's chief of staff, James Ashby, stated that the litigation had already cost between $1.6 million and $2 million, characterizing the case as an attack on free speech. Ashby indicated that Hanson is considering a High Court challenge, which represents her final legal recourse. "We're not happy with the decision. We have to respect it," he told Sky News.
The case originated in September 2022 following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Senator Faruqi, who immigrated to Australia from Pakistan in 1992, posted that she would not mourn the monarch, citing the Queen's leadership of a "racist empire." Hanson responded on social media by telling Senator Faruqi to "pack your bags and piss off back to Pakistan."
Senator Faruqi subsequently initiated Federal Court action, which she won. The Full Federal Court's decision this week rejected all grounds of Hanson's appeal. The judges affirmed that Hanson's post targeted immigrants, Muslims, and people of color, and they dismissed arguments that the Racial Discrimination Act should not apply to political communication.
One of the judges in the Full Federal Court's decision stated that Hanson's comments were a modern variation of the historically racist slogan "go back to where you came from." The ruling reinforces a 2024 decision that found Hanson's remarks were reasonably likely to offend, insult, humiliate, and intimidate Senator Faruqi, as well as Muslim Australians and migrants more broadly.
Ashby described the case as "lawfare" and renewed calls for reforms to Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, a provision that prohibits conduct that reasonably likely to offend, insult, humiliate, or intimidate a person or group based on race, color, descent, or national or ethnic origin. He suggested that the issue should be part of a broader political debate. The court's decision means Hanson has a limited time to seek special leave to appeal to the High Court.