Andrew L. Urban.
Pauline Hanson’s comment that Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi should pack her bags and “piss off back to Pakistan” is deemed to be illegal in Australia; while pro-Palestinian demonstrations demanding the elimination of Israel “from the river to the sea” along with calls to “Globalise the intifada” – encouraging the murders of Jews – are permitted and apparently beyond the reach of our laws. That’s what Hanson is waiting the High Court to address.
Hanson lodged her seeking leave application several weeks ago (August 21) but on our latest check (today) the High Court has not made a decision whether to hear her case. Given how serious the issue is and how profound the High Court’s decision will be, this is of some concern. But perhaps we should exercise a bit more patience: the Court takes, on average, between three and six months to finalise such applications. We might argue that the Court should adopt a sense of urgency…
Paul Kelly in The Australian explains the importance of this case: “A victory for Hanson would be a remarkable event,” notes Kelly, “securing the victory the Coalition had long unsuccessfully sought. Hanson would become a political heroine. It would be a devastating blow for Labor – being exposed for running repeated campaigns attacking the critics for promoting racism only to finish up humiliated by relying for decades on a provision found to be unconstitutional.”
As we argued the other day, It’s not a test of Hanson but of the High Court. If the Court refuses leave or if it dismisses Hanson’s appeal, it will leave Australia in the situation outlined above, in our introduction. Hanson was responding to Faruqi’s derogatory comments on the day of the Queen’s death. The case concerns racial discrimination under the Racial Discrimination Act, rather than defamation in the strict legal sense.
LAWFARE TIMELINE
1 November 2024: Federal Court Justice Angus Stewart found that Hanson’s September 2022 post telling Faruqi to “piss off back to Pakistan” contravened section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975. Hanson was ordered to delete the post and pay Faruqi’s legal costs.
27 July 2026: A Full Court of the Federal Court dismissed Hanson’s appeal. The three judges found that none of her grounds of appeal had been established. They upheld the original decision, including its treatment of the post’s impact on immigrants, people of colour and Muslims.
21 August 2026: Hanson lodged an application seeking leave to appeal to the High Court, challenging the legal basis for the section 18C finding and raising constitutional freedom-of-political-communication arguments.