The Australian Federal Police (AFP) have concluded that Pauline Hanson’s statement regarding the absence of “good” Muslims does not violate hate speech legislation.
The controversial remark was made by the Queensland senator during a February interview on Sky News, leading to “several complaints,” according to an AFP spokesperson.
During the interview, Hanson challenged Sky News’ Sharri Markson, asking, “You say, ‘Well, there’s good Muslims out there.’ How can you tell me there are good Muslims?”
In the days following her statement, the senator further criticized the Western Sydney suburb of Lakemba, a predominantly Muslim area, suggesting some individuals felt unwelcome there.
Hanson’s remarks drew immediate condemnation from across the political spectrum, along with religious and civil organizations.
In February, Australia’s Race Discrimination Commissioner, Giridharan Sivaraman condemned the remarks as Islamophobic.
A partial apology
After the interview, Hanson refused to fully apologise.
She did seek to clarify that she believed there were “some” good Muslims, citing a non-practising Muslim woman who was a former One Nation candidate.
“If I’ve offended anyone out there that doesn’t believe in Sharia law … who believes in the caliphate and all the rest of it, then I apologise to you for my comment,” Hanson said.
In late February, Hanson claimed police were trying to use new hate speech laws — which were legislated after the Bondi terror attack — to put her “back in jail”. The laws allow the government to forcibly shut down extremist organisations, and aim to curb the influence of hate preachers.
The following month, Hanson was censured in the Senate over her comments about the Muslim community. The censure motion was passed 36 to 17, supported by Labor, the Greens, two Liberal senators and members of the crossbench.
At the time, Foreign Minister Penny Wong described Hanson’s remarks as “inflammatory” and “divisive”, which she claimed sought “to vilify Muslim Australians”.
Matter ‘finalised’
In a statement to SBS News, an AFP spokesperson said they had “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 AFP has finalised this matter.”
The determination comes days after Hanson failed to overturn a court’s decision that she had racially discriminated Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi, telling her in a social media post to “piss off back to Pakistan”.
Hanson said she has briefed lawyers to consider a High Court appeal.