Australia’s High Court agreed to evaluate an appeal concerning a 2022 social media altercation that occurred following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Previous Federal Court decisions established that telling a Pakistan-born senator to leave the country breached the Racial Discrimination Act. Both senators welcomed the hearing, with the dispute now balancing the constitutional implied freedom of political communication against anti-vilification safeguards.
Key points
The upcoming High Court decision will test the legal limits of Australia's implied consti…: The upcoming High Court decision will test the legal limits of Australia's implied constitutional freedom of speech regarding political disputes.
Mehreen Faruqi maintains the appeal offers an opportunity to reinforce federal legal safe…: Mehreen Faruqi maintains the appeal offers an opportunity to reinforce federal legal safeguards against racism targeting Muslims, migrants, and people of color.
Pauline Hanson argues the appeal is essential to protect the rights of Australians to voi…: Pauline Hanson argues the appeal is essential to protect the rights of Australians to voice disagreement without fear of being silenced.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
Australia’s high court has agreed to hear Pauline Hanson’s appeal against a ruling that she engaged in racial discrimination against Mehreen Faruqi when she told the Greens senator to “pack your bags and piss off back to Pakistan”.
The One Nation leader was granted special leave to appeal on Thursday after the full federal court earlier this year unanimously upheld a 2024 decision.
The high court will examine whether Hanson’s comments breached the Racial Discrimination Act (RDA) or if the federal court decision impeded her implied freedom of speech.
Hanson welcomed the decision on social media, saying “this case has always been bigger than me and bigger than one tweet”.
“Australians must be able to speak their minds, question their government and disagree with each other without being frightened into silence,” the 72-year-old senator wrote.
“That freedom is under attack, including through Labor’s digital duty of care bill and its threat to lawful debate online.”
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Faruqi said in a statement on Thursday: “Bring it on.”
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