Australia court rules senator violated law with racial remarks against Muslim lawmaker

An Australian court ruled on Friday that Senator Pauline Hanson violated race laws with her racial remarks against a Muslim lawmaker, according to local media reports.

Federal Court Justice Angus Stewart rejected arguments from Hanson's lawyer, stating that the senator's tweet constituted an "angry personal attack" with no discernible connection to the issues raised by Senator Mehreen Faruqi, as reported by ABC News.

The judge ordered Hanson, the leader of the right-wing populist party One Nation, to delete her tweet and pay Senator Faruqi's costs for the proceedings.

Senator Faruqi took Hanson to the Federal Court after her post in September 2022, which was made on the day Queen Elizabeth II died, claiming that Hanson had breached the Racial Discrimination Act.

In April of this year, Hanson told the court that she did not know Faruqi was Muslim when she instructed her to "piss off back to Pakistan" on social media. This tweet was a response to Faruqi's post, in which she stated that she could not mourn someone who was "the leader of a racist empire."

Justice Stewart characterized Hanson's post as "anti-Muslim or Islamophobic," noting that her large following on social media empowered others to share similar messages on X, formerly Twitter.

Speaking to reporters, Senator Faruqi described the judgment as "landmark," "historic," and "groundbreaking," asserting that it "will set a new precedent for how racism is viewed in this country."

"It is about time Pauline Hanson faced the consequences of the racism that she has been perpetrating against Muslims, people of color, and First Nations people for decades," Faruqi said.