High Court to hear Hanson challenge to racist hate speech laws

November 5, 2026 — 2:36pmOne Nation leader Pauline Hanson has won her bid to mount a High Court challenge arguing that Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act should be declared unconstitutional and torn up.The Queensland senator applied for special leave to appear before the High Court after the Full Federal Court upheld findings that she had subjected Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi to racist hate speech with her “piss off back to Pakistan” tweet, sent in 2022.One Nation leader Pauline Hanson argues that Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act is invalid. Alex EllinghausenThe case is expected to test the limits of the implied freedom of political communication, a doctrine which the High Court has applied for decades but with an ongoing and at-times heated debate over its reach.“Special leave to appeal is granted,” read the High Court’s single-line ruling, released on Thursday afternoon.The ruling was made by Chief Justice Stephen Gageler as well as Justices Michelle Gordon, James Edelman, Jayne Jagot, Jacqueline Gleeson and Robert Beech-Jones.The seventh justice, Simon Steward, has returned to the court this month after several months’ sick leave.More to comeFrom our partners