feel that she was being treated differently or being mistrusted because she is a woman of colour, and when she was identifiable as being an immigrant and Muslim. She gave evidence of how, in various ways, she or her family were made to feel unwelcome or different, ie they were "othered" in the sense of being conceptualised as intrinsically different from and inferior to the prevailing social group and thereby excluded from it.
39 Senator Faruqi explained that when she entered politics, her experience of racism intensified. Often that was reflected in people responding to things that she said by attacking her as a person, rather than criticising her message or stance. They have included telling her that she is "not from Australia" or that she "doesn't belong here." Her Muslim identity has often been the focus or subject of the attacks.
40 Senator Faruqi explained that she feels that some people do not want her in Australia because she is Muslim. She feels that they consider Muslims to have an outlook and a way of life that is incompatible with modern Australia. Senator Faruqi's experience is that anti-Muslim sentiment, or Islamophobia, is based on a racialized stereotype and that hateful comments about her religion are also tied to where she comes from and her ethnicity.
41 Senator Faruqi and her staff maintain several social media accounts in her name – Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. At the relevant time, Senator Faruqi had about 40,000 followers on Twitter, and Senator Hanson had "a lot more", "thousands and thousands of people."
42 In cross-examination, Senator Faruqi explained that she and her staff drafted the tweet about the Queen having died. She said that she chose the words carefully, intending to put some issues on the political agenda which she felt should be discussed and debated. She wished to put her views on the record and for people to debate them.
43 Senator Faruqi explained that in the tweet she was stating a fact of how she felt about the Queen dying and about the British Empire and its legacy of colonialism. She was raising the issues of Australia becoming a republic and the conclusion of a treaty with First Nations people. She felt that that was a time when people would be more attuned to those issues. It was a time when people would be talking about those issues.
44 Senator Faruqi denied that the tweet incorporated false words of condolence, or that her condolences were disingenuous. She said that the tweet was a genuine and honest statement of her feelings and beliefs at the time.
