Breaking: Pauline Hanson loses racial discrimination appeal

Pauline Hanson fails in appeal bid against racial discrimination of Mehreen Faruqui Posted Mon 27 Jul 2026 at 2:20pmMon 27 Jul 2026 at 2:20pm, updated Mon 27 Jul 2026 at 2:37pmMon 27 Jul 2026 at 2:37pmOne Nation leader Pauline Hanson, left, was found to have racially discriminated against Mehreen Faruqi in 2024, right. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has lost an appeal against a court ruling which found she racially discriminated against Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi by telling her to "piss off back to Pakistan".Senator Hanson had appealed the judgement handed down in November 2024, which found she breached section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act and ordered she delete the offending tweet.In appeal hearings, Senator Hanson's lawyers argued that 18C should not apply to political communication because it is protected by the Constitution.In the Federal Court of New South Wales on Monday, Justice Melissa Perry said a decision on costs would be reserved.The judgement against Senator Hanson was handed down in November 2024. (ABC News: Keane Bourke)The Deputy Greens leader took Senator Hanson to Federal Court over the post on Twitter, now X, which was made in September 2022 on the day Queen Elizabeth II died.Senator Faruqi's post said she "cannot mourn the leader of a racist empire built on stolen lives, land and wealth of colonized people".Senator Hanson's tweet, posted as a reply read: "Your attitude appals and disgusts me. When you immigrated to Australia you took every advantage of this country."You took citizenship, bought multiple homes, and a job in a parliament. It's clear you're not happy, so pack your bags and piss off back to Pakistan. — PH."Hanson argued she did not know senator was MuslimIn his ruling, Justice Angus Stewart concluded that the post was "anti-Muslim or Islamophobic" and that Senator Hanson's large following empowered others to post similar messages on X.The One Nation leader defended her post in court by arguing she did not know Senator Faruqi was Muslim, but Justice Stewart ruled it was "overwhelmingly probable" that she did know that.Senator Faruqi was in court for Monday's appeal judgement but Senator Hanson was not present.