Australian court upholds racial discrimination ruling against Pauline Hanson

What the report says

BBC World News reported that Australian One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has failed to overturn a Federal Court finding that she racially discriminated against Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi. The appeal decision, delivered on Monday, 27 July 2026, upheld a 2024 ruling over Hanson’s 2022 social media response telling Faruqi to return to Pakistan after Faruqi posted criticism of the British Empire on the day Queen Elizabeth II died.

According to the BBC, Justice Melissa Perry rejected Hanson’s argument that the post should be protected as political communication. The earlier ruling by Judge Angus Stewart found Hanson’s message was an angry personal attack and a version of the “go back to where you came from” slogan, which he described as a racist trope. He ordered Hanson to remove the post and pay Faruqi’s legal costs.

Faruqi, a Muslim senator and deputy leader of the Greens, said outside court that the result mattered to people made to feel their place in Australia was conditional. She framed the case as an effort to hold racism accountable and said hate speech should not be treated as free speech. Hanson said she was disappointed and would review the decision with her lawyers, including the possibility of seeking an appeal in the High Court of Australia.

The ruling is significant because it tests how Australia’s racial discrimination law applies to political speech on social media. The BBC also noted Hanson’s longer record of hardline positions on Muslim immigration and race-related issues, including past support for a Muslim immigration ban and recent criticism over comments about Muslims and the former White Australia policy.