Key Points
- Mehreen Faruqi’s racism complaint against Pauline Hanson has been accepted by the Human Rights Commission
- The Greens senator made the complaint to the commission over a tweet from the One Nation leader.
The Australian Human Rights Commission is set to investigate a racism complaint lodged against One Nation leader Pauline Hanson.
Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi made the complaint following a tweet from Senator Hanson, which said she should "p--- off back to Pakistan".
On Friday morning, Senator Faruqi's office said the HRC has accepted the complaint.
“People who have been told ‘go back to where you came from’ carry the scars of racism. So many have encouraged me to hold Senator Hanson’s attack to account," Senator Faruqi said.
“In this day and age, you’d be hard-pressed to find a workplace that would allow someone to racially vilify a colleague without consequence, but sadly Senator Hanson has not been held to account by the Senate."
The Greens attempted to censure Senator Hanson in the chamber last month but the motion was amended by the government and opposition to instead condemn all forms of racism.
The tweet from Senator Hanson was posted following comments Senator Faruqi made regarding the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
"Condolences to those who knew the Queen," Senator Faruqi wrote on Twitter on 9 September.
"I cannot mourn the leader of a racist empire built on stolen lives, land and wealth of colonised peoples."
Senator Hanson's reply to the tweet read: "Your attitude appalls and disgusts me. When you immigrated to Australia you took every advantage of this country.
"You took citizenship, bought multiple homes, and a job in a parliament. It's clear you're not happy, so pack your bags and p--- off back to Pakistan."
Senator Hanson refused to apologise for her comments.
The Australian Human Rights Commission told SBS News it could not comment on the issue.
