92 On 14 March, the Perth rally was the subject of an article in The West Australian, called "LGBTQI in Perth protest over visiting anti-trans activist Kellie-Jay Keen" (Ex R330). It was reported that LGBTQI protesters shouted, "Posie Parker you can't hide, you have nazis on your side". The article went on to say, "It is unclear whether the reference to nazis by protesters referred to Ms Keen's appearance in videos with white nationalists or an event she organised in January, at which one of the speakers quoted Adolf Hitler…"
93 Mrs Deeming spent a little time on Twitter (now known as X) reading and responding to tweets the night before the LWS rally. Mr Pesutto refers to these tweets at RCS Schedule A [11.15]–[11.23] and RCS Schedule C [5]–[16], and says they show that Mrs Deeming knew about alleged links between Ms Keen and the "far right" before the rally. For example, one Twitter user posted, "Why are [you] ignoring her [Ms Keen] associating with far right groups [Proud Boys] that were involved in the January 6th Capitol riot?" to which Mrs Deeming replied, "You can hold me to account for the policies I advocate for, not for any other views held by other people, on the basis that I "associated" with them. That's ridiculous …" (RCS Schedule A [11.21]).
18 March 2023
The LWS rally
94 On 18 March, Mrs Deeming attended the LWS rally in Melbourne, which was held on the steps of Parliament House.
95 A detailed narrative and pictorial chronology of the LWS rally, as agreed between the parties, which runs to 58 pages, is set out in a document entitled "Agreed Chronology of the Let Women Speak Rally", emailed to chambers (with leave) after the completion of the trial (but not yet electronically filed).
96 The sources for that chronology were:
- (a) the unchallenged evidence of Mr Fernando, a videographer and independent journalist who filmed the LWS rally, in his affidavit dated 27 May 2024 (at CB:7), and its exhibit "RF-1" (RF-1);
- (b) the first audio-visual recording of the LWS rally filmed by Mr Fernando using a high-definition single-lens camera which was mounted to a handheld camera mount (the Fernando HD footage) (Ex R180);