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

Associated Press

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — An Australian judge has ruled that anti-immigration party leader Sen. Pauline Hanson breached a racial anti-discrimination law 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 Federal Court over a 2022 exchange on the social media platform X, then called Twitter, under a provision of the Racial Discrimination Act. 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.