Pauline Hanson vows to take free-speech battle against discrimination laws to Australia's High Court

By CAITLIN POWELL - NEWS REPORTER Published: 01:42, 22 August 2026 | Updated: 01:58, 22 August 2026 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. The law looks at racial vilification and makes it unlawful for someone to do an act that is reasonably likely to 'offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate' someone because of their race or ethnicity.  '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,' Hanson 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. In her statement to social media on Saturday, Hanson said she is taking her case to the High Court as she believes Australians 'should be able to disagree with each other'. 'They should be able to argue. They should be able to say things other people don't like,' she said. 'Freedom of speech means nothing if it only protects words everyone agrees with.'