trope to go back to where you came from. That is at least in part because of its silencing effect, as explained by Senator Faruqi, Professor Paradies, Professor Reynolds and some of the autobiographical witnesses, and the licence that it offers others to do the same. That in turn engenders fear; fear not only of being subjected to similar verbal racist abuse, but also fear of being physically attacked; it makes people feel vulnerable not only emotionally or psychologically but also physically. It makes them feel that their place in Australia is vulnerable. The effect is exacerbated by the fact that Senator Hanson is a person with a high public profile and in a position of power with an amplified voice (from her large following on Twitter where the tweet was published), and she is a work colleague of Senator Faruqi.
253 It is submitted on behalf of Senator Hanson that Senator Faruqi's reaction to the tweet, and its effect on her, should not be taken as indicative of what was reasonably likely. Two reasons are given for that.
254 First, it is said that Senator Faruqi holds a view of what is "hate speech" that is at odds with its meaning under the Act and that she does not apply that view equally to people of other colours or backgrounds such as white Anglo-Saxons. The basis for that is that Senator Faruqi said in her affidavit that "hate speech", in contrast to robust criticism from someone holding different views on a matter of public debate, is not just about what you are saying but about who you are, what you look like and where you come from–the "focus of the comments comes down to my race, background, where I come from, and that is a clear distinction: that's racism." She also said in cross-examination, in response to the suggestion that she did not treat criticism of white people in the same way, that racism is tied to power so that saying something about people who are marginalised and oppressed is quite different from saying something about people who have colonised other peoples and who are in power, such as white people (T49:29-43).
255 In relation to Senator Faruqi's view of what amounts to hate speech, she was not giving a view on the interpretation of s 18C, and what she said is a plausible view of what racist hate speech is. It does not suggest that she is oversensitive to racism. With regard to the question of equivalence between white and black racism, Senator Faruqi's view is orthodox. As explained by Professor Paradies (see [135]) above), a racist slur at someone on the basis of their membership of a powerful group is qualitatively different from such a slur at a member of a marginalised or oppressed group.
256 Secondly, it is said that Senator Faruqi's evidence of her own experiences of racism reflects a propensity to find offence where objectively there is no ground for it. Those are the experiences
