Pauline Hanson grilled over views on Islam during heated court hearing

2 weeks ago 7

One Nation person Pauline Hanson has been grilled successful tribunal astir her nationalist statements connected Muslim people, including her assertion that Islam is “a disease”, arsenic Greens legislator Mehreen Faruqi sues her implicit a tweet telling her to “piss disconnected backmost to Pakistan”.

Faruqi, a Muslim who migrated to Australia from Pakistan successful 1992, is suing Hanson nether radical favoritism laws successful effect to the remark connected Twitter, present X, which was posted connected September 9, 2022. The five-day Federal Court proceedings earlier Justice Angus Stewart started successful Sydney connected Monday.

Pauline Hanson and Sue Chrysanthou, SC, extracurricular the Federal Court successful Sydney connected Monday.

Faruqi, the lawman person of the Greens, is seeking tribunal orders requiring Hanson to delete the post, be anti-racism grooming astatine her ain cost, and marque a $150,000 donation to a foundation chosen by Faruqi.

Hanson gave grounds connected Tuesday and Saul Holt, KC, acting for Faruqi, played Hanson a clip from Seven’s Sunrise programme successful 2010, successful which the One Nation legislator was asked if she would merchantability her location to a Muslim person. She said nary connected air, adding that she did not judge “they are compatible with our mode of life”.

Asked repeatedly successful tribunal if she meant what she said astatine the time, Hanson initially said the question was “irrelevant” due to the fact that she didn’t merchantability her house. Later, she said: “Probably not.” She added that she was opposed to fundamentalist and extremist ideology.

Hanson agreed that she besides said successful 2017 that “Islam is simply a disease” and “we request to vaccinate ourselves against that”. But she disagreed that she had advocated for a afloat prohibition connected Muslim migration to Australia, saying that it mightiness beryllium her “personal opinion” but “it’s not successful my argumentation booklet”.

Greens legislator Mehreen Faruqi astatine tribunal connected Monday.

The tribunal was besides played a clip from Nine’s A Current Affair successful 2017, successful which Hanson suggested it mightiness beryllium hard to place a fundamentalist oregon extremist from different Muslims due to the fact that “you enactment up a fig of Muslims; who’s the bully one?”

The tribunal heard her 2018 book, Pauline, In Her Own Words, said that “there is nary motion saying ‘good Muslim’ oregon ‘bad Muslim’.”

Hanson denied she knew that astatine the clip of her tweet successful September 2022 that Faruqi was a Muslim.

“Now I know. At the clip I did the tweet it was irrelevant,” she said.

Holt enactment to Hanson that she was lying. Hanson rejected that suggestion.

“You would really similar her to spell backmost from wherever she came from conscionable due to the fact that she’s a Muslim,” Holt said.

“No,” Hanson replied.

“You already wanted her to piss disconnected backmost to Pakistan [before the tweet],” Holt said.

“Disagree,” Hanson replied.

The tribunal heard Hanson’s remark was made successful effect to a station by the Greens senator, who noted the decease of Queen Elizabeth II and tweeted that she could not “mourn the person of a racist empire built connected stolen lives, onshore and wealthiness of colonised peoples”.

Hanson told the tribunal that she was precise upset by the tweet.

Hanson responded connected Twitter that Faruqi’s “attitude appalls and disgusts me”. “When you immigrated to Australia you took each vantage of this state ... It’s wide you’re not happy, truthful battalion your bags and piss disconnected backmost to Pakistan,” she posted.

Faruqi alleges Hanson’s post amounted to unlawful violative behaviour nether the Racial Discrimination Act due to the fact that the remark was reasonably apt to offend, insult, humiliate oregon intimidate, and it was done due to the fact that of her race, colour oregon nationalist oregon taste origin.

Hanson’s ineligible squad reason the remark fell wrong an exemption due to the fact that she acted reasonably and successful bully religion successful making a just remark connected a substance of nationalist interest, and it was an “expression of a genuine belief” held by her.

Hanson’s ineligible squad has besides argued the Racial Discrimination Act provisions autumn foul of the implied state of governmental connection successful the Commonwealth Constitution, and are truthful “invalid successful full” oregon successful part.

That statement has prompted the Commonwealth attorney-general, represented successful the proceeding by Craig Lenehan, SC, to intervene successful the lawsuit to support the law validity of the sections.