217 I do not find any of that convincing, particularly in light of what she said in her affidavit about following Senator Faruqi on Twitter and knowing the sorts of tweets she posted about her beliefs. I find that it is overwhelmingly probable that Senator Hanson knew that Senator Faruqi is Muslim and said in cross-examination that she did not know that fact in order to avoid the implication that she published the tweet in question because Senator Faruqi is Muslim. On that basis, I find that on 9 September 2022 Senator Hanson knew that Senator Faruqi was Muslim.
PARA (A) – REASONABLY LIKELY TO OFFEND, ETC
218 The first inquiry is whether Senator Faruqi's tweet was likely, in all the circumstances, to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate another person or a group of people.
All the circumstances, including the tweet itself
219 The requirement that the assessment be made with reference to "all the circumstances" requires that the social, cultural, historical and other circumstances attending the person or the people in the group be considered when assessing whether offence, etc, was reasonably likely: Eatock v Bolt at [257] per Bromberg J. Just what circumstances may be relevant will vary from case to case and will depend on the evidence: Clarke v Nationwide News Pty Ltd [2012] FCA 307; 201 FCR 389 at [47] per Barker J.
220 I accept the submission on behalf of Senator Hanson that the relevant circumstances include the death of the Queen on the day of both tweets, the identities of both respondents as Senators, the content of Senator Faruqi's tweet to which Senator Hanson's tweet responded, the medium of the publication of both tweets (ie Twitter which is well-known for harsh and unconsidered comments that readily "go viral" in the sense of being reproduced, spread and republished multiple times) and that Senator Hanson's tweet was a reply to Senator Faruqi's tweet which included the latter within it. Another relevant circumstance is that Senator Hanson had a very substantial following on Twitter.
221 A central circumstance is, of course, the offending tweet itself and what it said. It has three central messages. They are all directed to Senator Faruqi's status as being from somewhere else. The one is that, as an immigrant, Senator Faruqi "took" advantage of Australia – she "took" citizenship, bought several houses and she took a job in the Parliament, yet she has the hypocrisy to be critical. Not only is that the message that was conveyed, but it is also the message that Senator Hanson says that she meant to convey. It is a message that Senator Faruqi
