Pauline Hanson says she will challenge racial discrimination laws in the High Court of Australia and vows to fight for free speech for ‘every Australian’. 

The One Nation leader said on Saturday that she is seeking special leave to appeal to the court over section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act.

She said it ‘allows people to pursue legal complaints where they feel offended, insulted, humiliated or intimidated because of their race’. 

‘I’m taking this fight to the High Court for every Australian who feels they are being silenced and to keep their opinions to themselves,’ she said in a statement.

‘Too many Australians are afraid to speak honestly about immigration, race, religion, Indigenous policy and other important issues because they worry they will be called racist, dragged through a complaints process or taken to court.’ 

This comes just under a month since Hanson lost an appeal against a court ruling that found she made a racist remark about Greens deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi. 

Senator Hanson was found in 2024 to have racially vilified Faruqi by telling her to ‘p*** off back to Pakistan’ in a post on X shortly after the death of Queen Elizabeth II. 

In his Federal Court decision handed down in 2024, Justice Angus Stewart ruled the remark was ‘seriously offensive’ and a ‘strong form of racism’.

Pauline Hanson has said she is going to challenge racial discrimination laws in the High Court of Australia

Hanson launched an appeal against the finding, with her barrister arguing the remarks might not have been pleasant, but they did not intimidate people of colour.

The appeal was dismissed by the Full Court of the Federal Court on July 27, nearly four years after Hanson’s social media post sparked controversy.

More to come.