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The Federal Court of Australia upheld a ruling that One Nation leader Pauline Hanson racially discriminated against Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi in a 2022 tweet. Hanson had appealed the original finding, arguing that political communication should be protected, but the court dismissed the appeal.
The Federal Court of Australia has dismissed an appeal by One Nation leader Pauline Hanson against a ruling that she racially discriminated against Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi. The original judgment, handed down in November 2024, found that Hanson breached section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act by posting a tweet telling Faruqi to "piss off back to Pakistan."
Coverage Comparison
The decision was reported by ABC Australia, the BBC, and The Guardian, all of which noted that Hanson's appeal was rejected. ABC Australia reported that Justice Melissa Perry reserved a decision on costs. The BBC described Hanson as a "populist leader" and characterized the tweet as "hate speech," while The Guardian reported the court upheld the finding of racial discrimination and noted that Hanson did not appear in court for the judgment.
Key Claims
Pauline Hanson lost an appeal against a court ruling that found she racially discriminated against Mehreen Faruqi, as reported by multiple outlets.
Hanson told Faruqi to "piss off back to Pakistan" in a September 2022 tweet, according to all three sources.
The tweet was found to be "anti-Muslim or Islamophobic" by the court, as reported by ABC Australia and the BBC.
Hanson's lawyers argued that section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act should not apply to political communication because it is protected by the Constitution, a claim carried by ABC Australia and The Guardian.
Justice Melissa Perry reserved a decision on costs, a detail reported by ABC Australia.
Faruqi described the win as a "landmark decision" and a "warning for people like Pauline Hanson," according to The Guardian.
Faruqi said the win was "for every single person who has been made to feel that their belonging in this country is conditional," as reported by the BBC.
Perspectives
Mehreen Faruqi
Faruqi welcomed the court's decision, calling it a victory for those who have been made to feel their belonging in Australia is conditional. She described the ruling as a "landmark decision" and a "warning for people like Pauline Hanson," expressing hope that it would embolden individuals and communities to assert their right to live free from racism.
Pauline Hanson
Hanson's legal team argued that the Racial Discrimination Act's section 18C should not apply to political communication, asserting that the original decision raised alarm among Australians that freedom of speech was under threat. Hanson was not present in court for the appeal judgment. Following the original ruling, she expressed disappointment and indicated she would consider an appeal to the High Court of Australia.
How each outlet told it
ABC Australia
Framing: Neutral — Objective
Facts Included:
Pauline Hanson lost an appeal against a court ruling that found she racially discriminated against Mehreen Faruqi
Hanson told Faruqi to 'piss off back to Pakistan' in a tweet
The tweet was found to be 'anti-Muslim or Islamophobic'
Hanson's lawyers argued that section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act should not apply to political communication
Justice Melissa Perry reserved a decision on costs
Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.
Claim
Confidence
Status
ClaimPauline Hanson lost an appeal against a court ruling that found she racially discriminated against Mehreen Faruqi.
ConfidenceHigh
StatusMulti-source quoted from ABC Australiathe outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimHanson told Faruqi to 'piss off back to Pakistan' in a tweet.
ConfidenceHigh
StatusMulti-source quoted from ABC Australiathe outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimThe tweet was found to be 'anti-Muslim or Islamophobic'.
ConfidenceHigh
StatusMulti-source quoted from ABC Australiathe outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimHanson's lawyers argued that section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act should not apply to political communication.
ConfidenceHigh
StatusMulti-source quoted from ABC Australiathe outlets behind this status were not recorded for this claim
ClaimJustice Melissa Perry reserved a decision on costs.