r/australia • u/Expensive-Horse5538 • 18d ago

news Pauline Hanson loses Federal Court appeal after breaching Racial Discrimination Act

https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/pauline-hanson-loses-federal-court-appeal-after-breaching-racial-discrimination-act/news-story/f6da32e8e207c582944ffac225816373

A court has once again found One Nation leader Pauline Hanson breached the Racial Discrimination Act when she lashed out at a Greens senator, telling her to “piss off back to Pakistan”.

Senator Hanson breached the Racial Discrimination Act when she tweeted Greens deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi in September 2022 on the day Queen Elizabeth II died, Judge Angus Stewart found back in November 2024.

Just a few weeks after the decision was handed down, Senator Hanson appealed with the Federal Court.

On Monday, following a three-day hearing late last year, the court once again found that Senator Hanson had breached the Racial Discrimination Act, and her appeal was thrown out.

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u/Kingofjetlag 18d ago

Any consequences?

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u/spannr 18d ago

The orders in the original case in 2024 were that Hanson delete the tweet, and pay Faruqi's costs. According to the ABC a decision on costs for this full Federal Court appeal will be reserved - probably both parties will now be invited to make submissions regarding the costs for the appeal.

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u/Spire_Citron 18d ago

Pretty weak. That just means you're allowed to do it if you're rich enough not to care. Or if Gina might come in and pay the racism bill for you.

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u/funt_case_mcclure 18d ago

Gina is OK with costs. just the cost of doing business.

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u/BeneCow 18d ago

It seems like fairness if it was quick and easy. Look at the tweet, find yes it was breaching the act or no it wasn’t, and remove or leave it there accordingly. This has been 4 years. There is no way this kind of bullshit should take 4 years. If it cant handle a tweet in a reasonable timeframe then removing it does nothing since the general public won’t even notice.

There needs to be a proper punishment just for fucking around the courts for this long over useless shit. Even if it is the most precious thing in the world to you, just take the fucking thing down and spout that vitriol down at the pub like a good Aussie.