77 Ms Ali recalls that since living in Australia, and at least up until 2015, people regularly said words to the effect of "go back to where you came from" to her. Since 2019, after she returned from the UAE, she feels that she has fortunately experienced overt racism less frequently. She nevertheless recounted some incidents of such racism, in particular instances where people seemed surprised to find her, a person of colour wearing a hijab, in a professional setting.
78 Ms Ali said that she has suffered various impacts in her day-to-day life from her experiences of racism. She has felt scared and intimidated and has on occasion even felt scared to wear her hijab in public. She said that she has learned to hide from people in public. By "hide", she means different things depending on the situation. For example, she might not go to certain public spaces at certain times, or when it is difficult to avoid public spaces she has kept to herself, keeping her head down and walking quickly in situations that make her feel uncomfortable. Hiding has also taken the form of running away and hiding from people that have made her feel unsafe, or who have shouted or said aggressive things to her. She said that she is constantly hypervigilant.
Coco-Jacinta Cherian
79 Coco-Jacinta Cherian was born in Western Australia in 1997. She is a person of colour and a person of migrant heritage. Her father, and his parents before him, were born in India. She works as a program support officer.
80 Ms Cherian cannot remember when she first saw Senator Hanson's tweet, although she believes that it was on Instagram in the week following the Queen's death.
81 When she first read the tweet, Ms Cherian felt that Senator Hanson was telling Senator Faruqi to "go back to where she comes from" which is a hurtful phrase for her that has often been directed to her. She also understood the tweet to be saying that Senator Faruqi is not deserving of the same rights and entitlements as people who are born in Australia and that if Senator Faruqi wishes to live in Australia, she needs to act in a certain way. That would include not criticising Australia's history and its ties to the monarchy and colonialism.
82 Ms Cherian said that she was offended by Senator Hanson's tweet, understanding it to express the sentiment that there is a hierarchy of races and that "whiteness" is to be preferred over "colouredness." She felt humiliated by the tweet by being made to feel embarrassed to be a person of colour. She felt insulted by the idea that she will not be accepted fully as part of Australian society unless she behaves in a certain way.
