AFP finds Pauline Hanson's comments on Muslims not hate speech
Quick Look
- The Australian Federal Police determined that comments made by One Nation leader Pauline Hanson about Muslim Australians, which drew several complaints, do not meet the threshold for breaching new hate laws.
- Hanson had discussed Islamic State-linked women and their children, questioning the existence of "good Muslims."
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The Australian government passed new combatting antisemitism and hate laws in January 2026, following the Bondi terror attack, increasing penalties for advocating violence and creating new listings for prohibited hate groups.
The Australian federal police has determined One Nation leader Pauline Hanson’s comments about Muslim Australians “do not meet the threshold” of breaching hate laws.
The AFP said it received several complaints about Hanson’s remarks to Sky News on 16 February.
As Hanson discussed attempts by Islamic State-linked Australian women and their children to return home from Syria, she said: “I’ve got no time for radical Islam. Their religion concerns me because of what it says in the Qur’an. They hate Westerners. That’s what it’s all about.”
“You say, ‘Well, there’s good Muslims out there’ – how can you tell me there are good Muslims?”
An AFP spokesperson said they had now finalised the matter.
“In February 2026, the AFP received several complaints about public comments made by a federal parliamentarian,” the spokesperson said.
“The AFP has determined the comments do not meet the threshold for relevant offences, including within the Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Criminal and Migration Laws) Act 2026.”
The government passed the combatting antisemitism and hate laws in January, in the wake of the Bondi terror attack.
The laws increased penalties for advocating or threatening force or violence, as well as creating a new listing for prohibited hate groups.
Several days after Hanson’s appearance on Sky News, Guardian Australia reported that federal police claimed they had “received reports of a crime” in relation to the comments.
At the time, an AFP spokesperson did not say whether they had begun a criminal investigation.
In response to that news, Hanson said: “They are trying to use Labor’s new hate speech laws to put me back in jail”.
Hanson did not withdraw her comments to Sky News, but offered further comments framed as a conditional apology after appearing in a series of media interviews in following days.
Hanson told the ABC she did not believe there are no “good” Muslims and apologised if she had “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”.
In March, Hanson was censured in the Senate over her Sky News comments, with the motion supported by Labor, the Greens, members of the crossbench, and two Liberal senators. Hanson called the censure motion – the second in four months against her – a “stunt”.
Guardian Australia has approached Hanson for comment.
Open Questions
- What will be the political fallout for Hanson?
- How will the AFP's interpretation of the new hate laws influence future cases?
