One Nation leader Pauline Hanson will avoid paying $250,000 in defamation damages after an appeals court found her claims an ex-senator sexually abused his staff were substantially true.
Senator Hanson was ordered to pay the sum plus legal costs in October when a Federal Court judge declared her comments on Nine's Today program in March 2019 were "seriously damaging" to Brian Burston's reputation.
At the time, Senator Hanson said One Nation chief of staff James Ashby had been trying to shed light on "sexual harassment and abuse" of a female staffer in Mr Burston's parliamentary office.
But findings the One Nation matriarch defamed the party's former senator by incorrectly saying he sexually abused a female colleague were thrown out by the full court on Wednesday after her successful appeal.
The court's three-judge panel unanimously ruled the evidence showed Mr Burston, who is in his 70s, "repeatedly and on an ongoing basis inflicted non-consensual, unwanted and unwelcome verbal and physical sexual behaviour" on two female staff.
In his earlier judgment, Justice Robert Bromwich was scathing towards Mr Burston’s general behaviour, calling it harassment that was “objectively wrong and inappropriate”.
However, he did not go so far as to say the harassment could be defined as more serious sexual abuse.
The ex-senator's conduct included telling female staffer Wendy Leach, “You probably just need a good f***".
During the seven-day defamation trial, the court heard Mr Burston cupped the face of another staffer, Terri-Lea Vairy, before giving her a “long, hard kiss".
On a separate occasion, he shoved $100 between her breasts.
The full court found the two employees endured a "profoundly unbearable workplace”, where they were exposed to repeated and ongoing sexualised comments and physical touching.
"The conduct was degrading and humiliating," the court said.
They disagreed with Justice Bromwich's findings sexual abuse had to involve something "persistent and not merely transient" that was more than physical contact.
"There is nothing about the ordinary meaning of sexual abuse that implies or requires an ongoing course of conduct. A person can suffer abuse on a single occasion, including sexual abuse," the judges wrote.
"Moreover, it is difficult to see why sexual abuse necessarily requires something beyond physical contact, if the circumstances are such that it is sexual in nature."
The three judges found Senator Hanson did not defame Mr Burston by claiming he assaulted Mr Ashby without provocation in Parliament House.
The ex-senator was ordered to pay the One Nation leader's legal costs for the defamation case and appeal.
Senator Hanson said the legal victory was a testament to the courage of Ms Leach and Ms Vairy, who gave evidence at the trial.
“Abuse of power in the workplace is a serious issue and I’m proud that I was one of the first to raise it as a problem in Parliament House," she said, referring to a speech she made in the Senate in February 2019.
“I hope that today’s result will make it easier for women or men who are harassed in the workplace to have the confidence to come forward and report it to the relevant authorities.”
Mr Burston did not respond to requests for comment.
Senator Hanson has also filed a counter-suit in the Federal Court, claiming Mr Burston's defamation case and sexual harassment allegations against her amounted to discrimination.
That case is still ongoing.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
