Greens deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi launches legal action against One Nation leader Pauline Hanson
Greens deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi is suing One Nation leader Pauline Hanson under the Racial Discrimination Act over a tweet.
Greens deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi is suing One Nation leader Pauline Hanson under the Racial Discrimination Act over a tweet telling the left-wing party senator to “piss off back to Pakistan”.
In documents filed in the Federal Court, Senator Faruqi’s lawyers allege Senator Hanson breached section 18c of the act which makes it unlawful to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate another person or group.
Her lawyers argue the tweet “did offend, insult, humiliate and intimidate” their client and “other people who share attributes” with her.
The lawyers have asked for the tweet to be deleted and replaced with a post pinned to her profile for three months stating she “committed unlawful offensive behaviour”.
In addition, Senator Faruqi’s lawyers are also asking the court to require Senator Hanson to pay $150,000 to a not-for-profit chosen by their client and commit to anti-racism training.
The Greens senator said she was “drawing a line in the sand”.
“This court action is about holding her accountable and using the Racial Discrimination Act to prevent her from engaging in bigoted conduct that hurts people in the future,” she said.
“Being told to go back to where we come from is the ultimate racist dog whistle because it tries to rob you of your belonging to the place you call home and paints you as un-Australian.”
On September 9 last year, the Greens senator posted on Twitter: “Condolences to those who knew the queen. I cannot mourn the leader of a racist empire built on stolen lives, land and wealth of colonised peoples.”
In response, Senator Hanson told her that her attitude “appals and disgusts me”.
“When you immigrated to Australia, you took every advantage of this country,” the Queensland senator tweeted.
“You took citizenship, bought multiple homes, and a job in a parliament. It’s clear you’re not happy, so pack your bags and piss off back to Pakistan.”
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