One Nation leader Pauline Hanson is awaiting a verdict in her racial discrimination appeal case. The Full Court of the Federal Court is set to rule on Monday afternoon on whether a tweet posted by Hanson in 2022 breached racial discrimination law.
The tweet, sent shortly after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, told Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi to "piss off back to Pakistan." Senator Faruqi had posted on X, formerly Twitter, that she could not mourn the passing of the leader of a "racist empire built on stolen lives, land and wealth of colonised peoples." Hanson responded, stating she was "appalled and disgusted" by the comments and that Senator Faruqi should "take every advantage of this country" and "pack your bags and piss off back to Pakistan" if she was not happy.
A primary judge had previously found that the tweet breached racial discrimination law. Hanson's barrister argued in an appeals court in November that while the remarks were not pleasant, they did not intimidate people of colour. The barrister contended that the finding that Hanson's remarks intimidated Australian migrants of colour was an extreme interpretation.
The case comes after increased scrutiny on Hanson's activities, including a European trip where she was seen holidaying with Gina Rinehart and met with anti-immigration activist Tommy Robinson. She also told a conservative conference that Australia had been "flooded with migrants." A Roy Morgan poll published the week before the verdict showed a more than five percentage point drop in her party's primary vote to 22.5 percent in a single week. Hanson and Senator Faruqi have previously clashed in parliament, including when Hanson wore a burqa into the Senate six days after the appeal hearing in November, an action the Greens senator called "blatant racism and Islamophobia." This was reportedly the second time Hanson had worn a burqa into parliament.