Australia’s top court rejects Pauline Hanson’s bid to overturn a lower-court ruling finding she breached the Racial Discrimination Act in remarks directed at Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi. Multiple outlets report the case centres on a social media exchange in which Hanson posted language telling Faruqi to “piss off back to Pakistan,” which the courts found amounted to racial discrimination.
According to the reports, the proceedings were launched by Faruqi after the 2022 tweet. Justice Angus Stewart previously found Hanson’s conduct in the September 2022 post was “seriously offensive” and intimidating, and that it breached the Racial Discrimination Act. Hanson later appealed the decision, with outlets noting she sought to overturn the finding in November. The latest decisions uphold the earlier determination, with Hanson’s appeal dismissed. The coverage is consistent across outlets that the key issue is the content of Hanson’s tweet and the determination that it targeted Faruqi on racial grounds.
