157 Ms Farrugia was not required for cross-examination. I accept her evidence. I will deal with the tendency evidence when considering whether the para (b) element is established.
Lauren Rae Gasparini
158 Ms Gasparini is also a solicitor at Marque Lawyers. She affirmed an affidavit after the hearing in support of an application to reopen Senator Faruqi's case for the purpose of adducing further evidence relevant to whether Senator Hanson knew at the time that she published her tweet that Senator Faruqi is Muslim. I will deal with that point of contested fact in due course. For the present, the following can be noted.
159 First, on 13 May 2024, I granted leave to Senator Faruqi to open her case for the purpose of tendering the affidavit of Ms Gasparini. That order was by consent. I also made orders for the parties to file and serve further submissions dealing with the significance or otherwise of that evidence, which they did.
160 Secondly, Ms Gasparini's affidavit sets out the details of internet research undertaken by her, the product of which is annexed to the affidavit. It essentially covers evidence in the public domain of Senator Faruqi being Muslim in order to support the submission that Senator Hanson must have known, at the time that she published the tweet, that Senator Faruqi is Muslim.
161 Ms Gasparini was not required for cross-examination. I accept her evidence.
SENATOR HANSON'S EVIDENCE
Senator Hanson's affidavit evidence
162 In the section, I summarise Senator Hanson's affidavit evidence.
163 Senator Hanson has a long history in Australian public life. She was elected as a councillor to the Ipswich City Council, Queensland in 1994. In 1996 she was elected as an independent Member of Parliament for Oxley (Brisbane). In 1997 she was a founder of the One Nation Party. Between 1998 and 2015 she was a candidate in various Federal and State elections. In 2016 she was elected Senator for Queensland, and then in May 2022 she was elected to a six-year term as Senator for Queensland.
164 Senator Hanson was born into a working-class family. When she was only 12, she started working in her parents' shop where she mixed with ordinary Australians of various ethnic backgrounds. She stopped attending school at the age of 15, got married at 16 and had her first child at 17 years of age. She has four children.
