One Nation senator Pauline Hanson made a racist comment when she told a Muslim senator to pack his bags and return to Pakistan, a judge has found.
Friday’s ruling marks a victory for Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi in a Federal Court case against the One Nation leader.
Judge Angus Stewart found Hanson engaged in “seriously offensive” and intimidating behavior in the September 2022 social media post which breached the Racial Discrimination Act.
The message was racist, nativist and anti-Muslim, the judge said.
The proceedings involved a message from Hanson on Twitter, now known as X, telling the Greens MP to “piss off to Pakistan”.
“It’s a strong form of racism,” Stewart said Friday.
Speaking after the judgement, Faruqi said it was a “good day”.
“Today is a good day for people of color, for Muslims and for all of us who have worked so hard to build an anti-racist society,” she said.
“And believe me, too many of us have been subjected to this ultimate racist insult far too often in this country. Today’s decision tells us that telling someone to go back to where they came from is a strong form of racism,” he added. ” she said.
Hanson’s post on X was a response to Faruqi’s post on the day Queen Elizabeth II died.
Faruqi wrote that she could not mourn the passing of the leader of a “racist empire built on lives, land and wealth stolen from colonized peoples.”
Hanson’s claim that she did not know Faruqi was Muslim when she sent the tweet was rejected by the court.
Hanson’s argument that she had simply engaged in political discourse by pointing out Faruqi’s hypocrisy in her criticism of the monarchy while benefiting from moving to and living in Australia was also rejected.
“His tweet was an angry personal attack on Senator Faruqi,” Stewart said.
Hanson was ordered to delete the tweet within seven days and pay Faruqi’s legal fees for conducting the trial.
Faruqi said the court’s decision was an “affirmation to migrants and people of color” that they do not need to be “grateful or silent.”
“I will speak louder and louder than ever,” she said.
“I hope this will encourage individuals and communities to assert their right to live free from racism.”
The judge did not make Faruqi’s proposed order that Hanson pay an amount in damages to charity.
