“Today’s ruling by the Federal Court proves yet again that section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act places an illegitimate and unnecessary burden on political debate,” said Dr Andrew Bushnell, Director of the Law and Freedom Program at the Institute of Public Affairs.
Today, the Full Court of the Federal Court dismissed an appeal by Senator Pauline Hanson against an earlier 2024 decision that she had breached section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (RDA) for a post on X telling Senator Faruqi to “piss off back to Pakistan” after the latter had disparaged Queen Elizabeth II on the day Her Majesty died.
Section 18C of the RDA makes it unlawful for a person to engage in an act (including speech) that is reasonably likely to “offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate” another person or group of persons based on their race, colour, or national or ethnic origin.
“Section 18C is illiberal, undemocratic, and can and has been used on multiple occasions to shut down debate and censor political opponents,” said Dr Bushnell.
“If they can come after a high-profile political figure such as Senator Hanson, then they can come after any Australian who wants to express their opinion on matters considered contentious to the political elites.”
“By inserting itself into a dispute between two sitting elected parliamentarians, the Federal Court has exposed the absurdity of this law.”
“This is not about hate speech – this is about one person using the broad terms and low threshold of section 18C law to shut down a political opponent.”
“The Institute of Public Affairs has long recommended the repeal of section 18C because it is contrary to Australians’ rights to free speech and political participation, and the protections contained in section 18D are inadequate,” said Dr Bushnell.
“The case raises the question of whether robust debate about certain contentious issues like immigration are now even permissible in Australia. Certainly, it will have a chilling effect on those discussions.”
“It is important for Australian democracy that Senator Hanson appeals this decision in the High Court which must finally consider how section 18C unacceptably threatens the freedom of speech of all Australians.”
Related IPA research can be found here.
