Overview
- The Full Federal Court unanimously dismissed Pauline Hanson’s appeal on Monday, upholding Justice Angus Stewart’s 2024 finding that her 2022 social media reply telling Senator Mehreen Faruqi to “piss off back to Pakistan” amounted to unlawful racial vilification.
- The court rejected Hanson’s arguments that the Racial Discrimination Act was constitutionally invalid and that her comment was protected as fair comment or free speech.
- Justice Stewart’s original judgment said the remark conveyed a variant of the racist “go back to where you came from” trope and was reasonably likely to offend, humiliate or intimidate Faruqi, Muslim Australians and people of colour with migrant backgrounds.
- Faruqi called the ruling a win for people told to ‘go back’ to their countries while Hanson said she and her lawyers will review the judgment and may seek special leave to appeal to the High Court.
- The decision reaffirms how section 18C applies to political speech on social media and could shape future disputes over the legal balance between free expression and protections from race‑based abuse; coverage also noted the ruling’s potential political fallout for Hanson and One Nation after recent scrutiny of her overseas meetings and a reported dip in polling.