Australian judge rules senator broke race law by telling rival legislator to return to Pakistan

Associated Press

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — An Australian judge has anti-immigration party leader Sen. Pauline Hanson breached racial discrimination laws by crudely telling Pakistan-born Sen. Mehreen Faruqi to return to her homeland. Faruqi welcomed Friday’s ruling as a vindication for all victims of racism. Faruqi sued Hanson in the Federal Court over a 2022 exchange on the social media platform X, then called Twitter, under a provision of the Racial Discrimination Act that bans public actions and statements that offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate people because of their race, color or national or ethnic origin. Hanson told the Lahore-born Faruqi to return to Pakistan, using an expletive. Hanson says she is “deeply disappointed” by the ruling and will appeal.