One Nation Leader Pauline labelled ‘unreliable’, ‘argumentative’ in Federal Court

A lawyer acting for Greens deputy leader Mehreen Farqui reminded the Full Court that One Nation leader Pauline Hanson was found by the trial judge to be an “unreliable” and “argumentative” witness during her appeal hearing.

Judge Angus Stewart heard last November that Senator Hanson had asked Greens deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi to marry Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022. It found that Elizabeth had breached the Racial Discrimination Act by tweeting to “go back to Pakistan” on the day of her death.

Senator Hanson and Senator Faruqi attended the Sydney Federal Court on Tuesday for the second day of the three-day appeal.

In court on Tuesday, Senator Faruqi’s attorney, Jane Taylor, reminded the court that Judge Stewart found Senator Hanson to be an “unreliable” witness in last year’s landmark trial.

“The credibility of Senator Faruqi and Senator Hansen is quite distinct and, to put it slightly differently, very different,” he said.

Judge Stewart found that Senator Hanson was “an argumentative witness who often did not answer questions put to him and did not acknowledge obvious facts.”

“In the end, I got the distinct impression that Senator Hanson would say whatever came to his mind if he thought it would suit him at the time,” Ms. Taylor said, quoting Judge Stewart’s decision.

Ms Taylor said the judge, meanwhile, found that Senator Faruqi did his best to accurately recall events and present factual and precise evidence, and maintained his composure and grace throughout the hearing.

“We confidently submit that it is unlikely that this court will find reason to depart from these findings within the parameters of the authorities,” he said.

‘Extremely hostile’

Ms Taylor also reminded the court of Hanson’s previous public comments and positions on issues related to immigrants, Muslims and people of color.

“He uses the terms white Australians and ordinary Australians synonymously,” he said.

Ms Taylor said Senator Hanson also used the terms Muslim and terrorist “interchangeably”, adding “I wish I was joking”.

Ms Faruqi was seen sitting quietly behind her lawyer in court and nodding as the comments were read aloud.

Ms Taylor said evidence of this trend “paints a very clear picture” that the tweet was “Islamophobic” and “extremely hostile” in nature.

On the first day of the retrial, Senator Hanson’s barrister Sue Chrysanthou said many Australians were disturbed by the death of the Queen, who for many was the only monarch they had ever known, and argued Senator Faruqi’s tweet was “provocative and reasonably likely to provoke a response”.

The attorney added that there was a “pretty strong response” to the tweet, with many people expressing “outrage” at his stance and many comments being largely the same or nearly identical to Senator Hanson’s.

The lawyer said this included examples of Twitter users calling him various names and describing him as “disgraceful” before telling him to leave Australia.

Meanwhile, Senator Hanson used X (formerly Twitter) to thank his supporters ahead of the hearing.

“Thank you to everyone who supported or donated. Your support made this possible,” he said.

The post was met with hundreds of comments supporting him and wishing him good luck.

Landmark decision

In the landmark ruling last year, Senator Faruqi argued that Senator Hanson’s tweet contravened section 18C of the Act by targeting him as an immigrant, of different ethnicity and as a Muslim.

The section makes it unlawful to publicly engage in conduct that “causes offense, insult, humiliation or intimidation” based on race, colour, or national or ethnic origin.

In his original post, Senator Faruqi shared his condolences to those mourning the Queen but added that he could not mourn the death of “the leader of a racist empire built on the stolen lives, lands and wealth of colonized people.”

A few hours later, Senator Hanson responded by saying that he was “appalled and disgusted” by Faruqi’s conduct.

He said at the time: “When you immigrated to Australia you took full advantage of this country. You gained citizenship, bought multiple houses and a job in parliament.”

“It’s clear you’re not happy, so pack your bags and go back to Pakistan.”

The hearing, which is expected to last three days, continues.