Federal police ‘received reports of a crime’ in relation to Pauline Hanson’s comments about Muslims | Pauline Hanson
Federal police said they “received a report of a crime” in relation to statements Pauline Hanson made to the media this week.
But an AFP spokesman did not say whether they had launched a criminal investigation, only saying they would have more to say “at an appropriate time”.
Bilal El-Hayek, mayor of Canterbury Bankstown in Sydney’s west, said on Friday the One Nation leader should face charges for his “highly provocative” comments about Muslims.
According to the 2021 census, more than 23% of residents in Al-Hayek’s council district are Muslim. He told the ABC on Friday that hate speech laws were “quite clear” in reference to public incitement on the basis of attributes such as race, religion or gender.
Referring to the fact that the attempts of Australian women and children stranded in Syria to return home on Monday night were prevented, Hanson said: “You say, ‘Well, there are good Muslims there.’ How can you tell me that there are good Muslims?”
Hanson did not retract his comments, although he made other comments within the scope of a conditional apology. In a subsequent interview he also singled out Lakemba, a suburb in Canterbury-Bankstown, as a place where people felt “unwanted” and “didn’t want to be”.
El-Hayek said:[Hanson’s] The target was clearly the Muslim people.”
“I have no doubt that his words will provoke someone,” he said.
Lakemba, one of Australia’s largest mosques, received its third threatening letter on Wednesday, just weeks before its first night of worship in Islam’s holiest month. While NSW police are investigating the incident, a man has been charged over a letter sent to the mosque in January.
Asked if they were investigating Hanson’s comments, an Australian federal police spokesman said: “The AFP is aware of comments made during a media interview earlier this week.”
“AFP has received crime reports regarding this matter. Further comment will be made at an appropriate time.”
Federal opposition leader Angus Taylor said on Friday he disagreed with Hanson’s recent comments about Muslims.
“I will always stay away from people who think this is anything other than protecting our lives and focusing on our core values,” he told reporters.
“If people want to come to our country, no matter what [their] religion, [if] “If they don’t believe what we believe, we should close the door on them.”
Taylor was visiting the Addas synagogue in Melbourne, which was bombed in a 2024 anti-Semitic attack that the local spy agency linked to Iran. Asked whether Hanson should apologize for his comments, the new opposition leader said that was a matter for the One Nation senator.
Hanson’s comments were widely criticized. Hanson’s One Nation colleague Barnaby Joyce refused to acknowledge them on Wednesday.
The Albanian government’s commissioner on racial discrimination this week asked Hanson to apologize for his comments, saying he targeted Muslims and that his comments would have a lasting impact.
Anthony Albanese this week revealed a link between Hanson’s comments and the potential for threats of violence. NSW premier Chris Minns said Hanson’s comments could “inflame tensions”.
On Wednesday, Hanson said he would offer a conditional apology if he “offended anyone who doesn’t believe in sharia law or multiple marriages, who wants to bring in ISIS brides or Gazans who believe in the caliphate.”
Hanson had previously been criticized for demeaning Muslims when she wore a burqa in the Senate chamber last year. He was suspended from the room for seven days.
Hanson has been contacted for comment.
