195 By s 97(1) of the Evidence Act 1995 (Cth), evidence of the character, reputation or conduct of a person, or a tendency that a person has or had, is not admissible to prove that a person has or had a tendency to act in a particular way, or to have a particular state of mind, unless the party seeking to adduce the evidence gives reasonable notice in writing of their intention to adduce that evidence. Also, the court must think that the evidence will, either by itself or having regard to other evidence adduced or to be adduced by the party seeking to adduce the evidence, have significant probative value. Regulation 6 of the Evidence Regulations 1995 (Cth) sets out requirements for the form of a notice of intention to adduce tendency evidence.
196 Senator Faruqi gave notice of her intention to adduce such evidence. That notice was amended from time to time. Ultimately, the intention is expressed in a further amended notice of intention to adduce tendency evidence dated 12 March 2024 and a second notice of intention to adduce tendency evidence dated 25 April 2024. Attached to the first notice are 85 extracts from publications between 1996 and 9 September 2020 of Senator Hanson's conduct which is said to demonstrate that she has a tendency to:
(a) make public statements (or endorse the public statements of other people that have been made) because of the race, colour or national or ethnic origin of a particular person who has, or group of people who have, one or more of the following attributes (Group Attributes).
- (i) Person of colour;
- (ii) Migrant to Australia;
- (iii) Person with migrant heritage, born in Australia;
- (iv) Muslim person;
- (v) Person with visible signs or expressions of religion;
(b) engage in commentary consistent with the Respondent holding white supremacist views, including by making hateful remarks about a person who has, or a group of people who have, one or more of the Group Attributes.
197 Attached to the second notice is a media statement by Senator Hanson and video footage of her making a statement in an interview, both published in April 2024. The statements are said to demonstrate the same tendencies.
198 The publication extracts are summarised in tables in the tendency notices. With reference to the item numbers in the notices, their content can be categorised as evidencing the following public messages by or attitudes of Senator Hanson (item numbers reference the first notice unless stated otherwise):
