Pauline Hanson is taking a firm stand for free speech as she launches a Federal Court appeal after a judge ruled her blunt response to Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi breached the Racial Discrimination Act. The case stems from 2022, when Senator Mehreen Faruqi publicly refused to mourn the passing of Queen Elizabeth II and criticised the late monarch on Twitter. Thousands of Australians voiced their frustration, and Pauline Hanson joined the national debate with a forthright message — a message now at the centre of this legal battle. Last year a judge ruled her post promoted a racist trope and breached section 18C, but Pauline Hanson is fighting back. She argues that political debate in Australia has always been robust, especially on platforms like Twitter where ordinary people speak plainly without filtering their views through layers of political correctness.
Pauline Hanson’s legal team told the court it cannot hide in an “ivory tower” while everyday Australians are expected to tiptoe around sensitive topics or risk legal punishment. She says this case is bigger than one tweet — it’s about whether Australians still have the right to speak their minds in public without being dragged through the courts. If a phrase like “go back to where you came from” is ruled unlawful in all contexts, then political free speech in Australia takes yet another heavy blow. Pauline Hanson is fighting to ensure Australians can continue to express themselves, challenge politicians, and take part in honest debate without fear of racial discrimination laws being weaponised to silence them.