Pauline Hanson's no 'good' Muslims comments not hate speech, police say

Police will not pursue One Nation leader Pauline Hanson under hate speech laws. The Senator made offensive comments during an interview in February when she suggested there were no "good" Muslims. What's next? Police say the comments did not meet the threshold to be pursued under the Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Act. Police have determined offensive comments made by One Nation leader Pauline Hanson that there are no "good" Muslims do not meet the threshold to be charged as a crime under new hate speech laws. Senator Hanson made the comments in February during a Sky News interview, where she also claimed without evidence that there were suburbs in Australia "people can't go" without feeling unsafe, before singling out a Sydney suburb with one of the largest Muslim populations in the country. The comments were rejected by politicians across the political spectrum and labelled as divisive, inflammatory and un-Australian. They were also condemned as hateful by Islamic leaders, including Canterbury-Bankstown Mayor Bilal El-Hayek, who called for her to be charged. The AFP confirmed later that month it had received reports of a crime in relation to the comments. Senator Hanson then accused the government of trying to throw her "back in jail". On Friday, an AFP spokesperson said it had determined the comments did "not meet the threshold for relevant offences". "The AFP has finalised this matter," it said. A day after making the comments, the One Nation leader issued a partial apology, saying she did believe there were some "good" Muslims and referencing a non-practising Muslim woman who stood for One Nation. She apologised if she "offended anyone out there that doesn't believe in Sharia law, or multiple marriages, or wants to bring ISIS brides in, or people from Gaza that believe in a caliphate". But she added: "In general, that is what they want — a world caliphate. And I am not going to apologise … I will have my say now before it's too late." In 2024, the Federal Court found Senator Hanson had a tendency to make anti-Muslim comments and that she had breached the Racial Discrimination Act over a social media post directed at Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi in which she told her to "piss off back to Pakistan". On Monday, Senator Hanson lost her appeal against the court ruling. However, she has flagged a potential High Court appeal. She spent a brief time in prison in 2003 for election fraud before the Queensland Court of Appeal quashed the conviction.