Sandra Sully mortified after accidentally reporting Pauline Hanson is battling claims she is a ‘rapist’ amid hate speech court battle

Veteran news anchor Sandra Sully was left red-faced after accidentally misreading a teleprompter on Monday night’s edition of 10 News First.

Sully, 59, was reporting on One Nation leader Pauline Hanson’s battle against Greens MP Mehreen Faruqi when a slip of the tongue caused her to read the word ‘racist’ as ‘rapist’.

Sully read the Sydney bulletin and said, “Plus, Pauline Hanson in court. Why the One Nation leader has been forced to fight claims she is a rapist.’

Sully quickly corrected himself and said, “Racist, my apologies. And correctly, racist.’

Ms Faruqi is suing Ms Hanson over a comment she made on X (then Twitter) in September 2022, telling her to “go back to Pakistan” after Queen Elizabeth’s death.

A five-day trial at the Federal Court began on Monday, with Ms Faruqui claiming Ms Hanson was guilty of racial discrimination through her tweet.

Under cross-examination, Ms Faruqi reiterated that she is against racism, but Ms Hanson’s powerful side, Sue Chrysanthou SC, argued that she is selective in her advocacy.

“I will make it clear to her that she is a hypocrite and that she is only against certain forms of racism,” Ms Chrysanthou said.

She used social media posts by Ms Faruqi’s son, Age journalist Osman Faruqi, which she told the court were offensive to white people.

One Tweet read: “Mediocre white people should be in the trash, but instead they own everything and are everywhere.”

Asked if she thought the post constituted racism, Ms Faruqi said: “I don’t.”

“Don’t you think it’s racist?” Mrs. Chrysanthou asked again.

Ms. Faruqi argued that racism “is about people’s ethnicity and skin color. It’s about who has the power in this country or anywhere in the world.’

She added: “It comes down to who has the power and authority to commit racism. In this country, power is in the hands of white people.’

But she accepted that critics often share that particular message on her own social media platforms and express their anger at the sentiment.

Moments earlier, Ms. Faruqi had again insisted that she opposes racism, “without qualifying” what exactly that meant.

Ms Chrysanthou said: “She has redefined racism to apparently include only some minorities. It’s hard to understand that decision.

“I want to explore what she considers inappropriate racism, or what acceptable racism is.”

Ms Hanson’s defense is based on her belief that she made an “honest comment” in response to Ms Faruqi’s criticism of the Queen.

Just hours after the queen’s death, Ms Faruqi wrote: ‘Condolences to those who knew the queen.

“I cannot mourn the leader of a racist empire built on the stolen lives, lands and wealth of colonized peoples.

“We are reminded of the urgency of the Treaty with First Nations, justice and reparations for the British colonies and becoming a republic.”

Five hours later, Senator Hanson responded, saying Ms Faruqi should “pack her bags and go back to Pakistan.”

She added: “Your attitude disgusts and disgusts me. When you immigrated to Australia, you enjoyed all the benefits of this country.

‘You took citizenship, bought several houses and a job in a parliament. It’s clear you’re not happy.’

Ms Chrysanthou argued that the barrage of criticism Ms Faruqi received was already in full swing by the time Ms Hanson put forward her views.

She said Ms Faruqi faced backlash between 11am and about 4pm, when her staff appeared to limit comments on the post.

“As someone who had a genuine and sincere affection for the Queen… Senator Hanson responded to what she read and expressed her sincere views on Senator Faruqi’s conduct,” Ms Chrysanthou said.

“In expressing her views on Senator Faruqi’s conduct, my client provides examples of past conduct to emphasize her point that the tweet was abhorrent, abhorrent and hypocritical.”

She said that in trying to “point out these three things, the behavior was appalling, abhorrent and hypocritical,” [Ms Hanson] sets out the reasons why she formed that opinion, which classically explained the basis of the opinion, which is a fair comment.

‘Fair commentary means an opinion based on facts.

“One of those facts is that Senator Faruqi is undoubtedly an immigrant from Pakistan.”

But Ms Chrysanthou said the “inclusion of that fact does not mean that is why” she made the post. She said the post was a direct reflection of Ms Faruqi’s comments about the Queen.

“Just referring to someone’s background, color or race is not enough to prove that the act was committed because of that factor,” she said.

Ms Chrysanthou argued that Ms Faruqi has received far more hurtful racially motivated criticism than what Ms Hanson said, but has only chosen to initiate legal proceedings against the One Nation senator because she is a political opponent.

The hearing will continue on Tuesday