Key Factors
- Senator Mehreen Faruqi is suing One Nation chief Paulin Hanson over alleged racist discrimination.
- By way of social media, Hanson advised Faruqi to “pack (her) baggage and piss off again to Pakistan”.
- This adopted Faruqi posting what proved to be a controversial tweet following the demise of the Queen.
Attorneys for Senator Pauline Hanson have mentioned she advised federal Greens deputy chief Senator Mehreen Faruqi to return to Pakistan in response to a provocative, offensive tweet concerning the demise of Queen Elizabeth II.
Faruqi is suing the One Nation chief within the Federal Court docket over alleged racist discrimination by way of a September 2022 tweet.
On the time, that she was appalled and disgusted with Faruqi’s feedback, telling her to “pack (her) baggage and piss off again to Pakistan”.
In a submit following the Queen’s demise, Faruqi wrote she couldn’t mourn the passing of the chief of a “racist empire constructed on stolen lives, land and wealth of colonised peoples”.
Because the trial started on Monday, Faruqi’s barrister Saul Holt KC mentioned the tweet was focused in the direction of his consumer as a Muslim lady of color who had migrated to Australia.
The “demeaning and insulting” language precipitated individuals like Faruqi and others to really feel a spread of psychological results together with worry, nervousness and stress, Holt mentioned.
The tweet needed to be understood within the wider context of racism which was “pernicious and deeply dangerous” in addition to the One Nation chief’s tendency to say racist issues, he advised Justice Angus Stewart.
In an affidavit, Faruqi mentioned she felt like she was not accepted in Australia and have become petrified of the hate and racism that Hanson’s tweet would encourage.
“A tweet of this type within the Twittersphere, the canine whistle would not simply stand by itself,” Holt mentioned.
It isn’t the primary public row Senator Pauline Hanson has had together with her colleagues in parliament. The One Nation chief has additionally had public disagreements with members of her personal social gathering at occasions. Supply: AAP / Lukas Coch
Faruqi is searching for court docket orders that the donate $150,000 to a charity of the Greens senator’s selection.
Hanson’s barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC known as the lawsuit “unmeritorious”, arguing her consumer had responded to an offensive tweet by the Greens senator which was designed to impress a response.
Faruqi was a hypocrite posting concerning the Queen on this means as she had beforehand sworn an oath of allegiance to the previous monarch when she grew to become an Australian senator, the court docket heard.
For 5 hours after the Greens senator had posted the tweet, she skilled a barrage of racist feedback earlier than Hanson even responded, Chrysanthou argued.
The One Nation chief’s eventual tweet didn’t goal a bunch of 1 specific race, color or ethnic origin, the court docket heard.
“The wording utilized by my consumer … is directed to Senator Faruqi and Senator Faruqi alone,” Chrysanthou mentioned.
The tweet was a good remark based mostly on Hanson’s trustworthy opinion and didn’t fall foul of the Racial Discrimination Act, the court docket was advised.
Chrysanthou argued the precise provisions within the act relied on by Faruqi must be struck out as they got here up towards the implied proper of political communication discovered within the Australian structure.
“These provisions impose a considerable and vital burden on political communication on this nation in circumstances the place immigration is plainly a political concern of concern to many Australians,” she mentioned.
Representing the Commonwealth attorney-general, Craig Lenehan SC rejected these arguments, saying any burden was “very small”.
The trial continues with Faruqi set to step into the witness field.