whiteknight
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Pauline Hanson breaks down in tears in first interview since losing defamation case against Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi
Sky News
November 5, 2024
Pauline Hanson has broken down in tears while declaring Australia is “not the country” she “grew up in” in her first appearance since publicly losing a defamation case against Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi.
The Federal Court last week found the One Nation leader racially vilified Ms Faruqi after telling her to “piss off back to Pakistan”.
Ms Hanson was responding to a post by the deputy Greens leader on the day Queen Elizabeth died saying she "cannot mourn the leader of a racist empire built on stolen lives, land and wealth of colonised peoples".
In an emotional first public appearance since losing the case, Ms Hanson fought back tears and told Sky News’ Andrew Bolt she felt the country had changed.
“I just feel that the country’s changed so much, in such a way that people can’t say what they think anymore. The thought police are out there,” she said.
“It’s not the country that I grew up in. People may criticise my comment (but) I’ve never changed since I first entered politics nearly 30 years ago.
“The decision made, I think, was unfair, unjust and a bit hard but I’m not going to give up. I’m going to appeal against it, I’m going to fight this.”
Ms Hanson’s comments come after Federal Court judge Angus Stewart ruled on Friday the One Nations Leader’s post was unlawful under Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act.
Justice Stewart ruled her social media post was an "angry ad hominem attack" on Ms Faruqi and she has been ordered to delete the post from her X profile and cover her opponent’s legal fees.
The One Nation Leader, who will appeal the ruling, said her bid to overturn the judgement is about more than just her own case.
“It’s not just about Pauline Hanson. It's about the people themselves having the right to have an opinion, to have a say,” Ms Hanson.
“And 18C has to go. That's why I have to fight this.”
A key aspect of Justice Stewart’s ruling was Ms Faruqi’s faith as an Islamic person, however Ms Hanson told the court she did not know Ms Faruqi was Muslim at the time of making her post.
She reiterated to Bolt on Tuesday evening that neither the Greens Senator’s faith or skin colour were a factor in the content of her tweet.
“It never entered my mind at the time of putting out that tweet that she was Muslim or the colour of her skin,” Ms Hanson said.
“I was just so upset at her comments about the queen (on) the day the queen died.”
Ms Hanson added that the Greens Senator was not the first person she had told to “go back to where” they come from, claiming she has said it to New Zealand-born Derryn Hinch as well.
Following the case, Ms Hanson is liable to pay upwards of $900,000 in legal costs.
She confessed to Bolt her party was not as equipped as larger parties to deal with these kind of blows.
Sky News host Andrew Bolt has called Pauline Hanson’s guilty verdict in court against Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi an “attack on free speech”.
"We're just a struggling minor party and (we're) trying to keep the operation running," she told Bolt.
"I think we've done a fantastic job to date, but we don't have the millions in the bank that the other political parties have."
Bolt, who had previously written about Ms Hanson's case in the Herald Sun, said he had "scores of people" asking how they could donate to the One Nations leader after his piece was published.
Ms Hanson mentioned she has launched a legal fund to help her bid, but admitted she felt "terrible" asking for donations.
"I can guarantee the money will not be used for anything else but to fight this," she said.
"I feel terrible to ask people for their help and assistance."
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