Faruqi is to examine the reasons given by her for doing so. I have set those out at [168]–[176] above. In summary, they are the following:
- (1) She was disgusted by Senator Faruqi "viciously insulting" the Queen on the day of her death.
- (2) She was disgusted with Senator Faruqi's hypocrisy, being in relation to her oath of allegiance to the Queen and having "benefited enormously" from a country she was now criticising.
- (3) She was disgusted by the insincerity of Senator Faruqi's expression of condolence.
- (4) She wanted to stand up for the values of her constituents.
- (5) She wanted to stand up for "an institution that Senator Faruqi had decided to attack", presumably the British Empire.
- (6) There is nothing about Senator Faruqi's race, colour or origin that means she should not be in Australia – it was her attitude that was the problem – her attitude towards Australia and Australians.
283 I have already said that I have considerable doubt about whether Senator Hanson gave the wording of her tweet the thought that she said that she did in her affidavit. I find that the affidavit is an ex post facto attempt to justify and explain the tweet. Time and again, she said in oral evidence that she dictated the tweet in distress, disgust and anger and that she did not check the wording of a draft; she did not take time to reflect on her chosen wording. I find that she framed the tweet spontaneously and in the heat of the moment.
284 In any event, except for the last one, none of the reasons that she gives excludes a factor or a reason for the tweet being one of the para (b) factors. Even if Senator Hanson subjectively thought that Senator Faruqi had viciously insulted the Queen, or that what she said was insincere and hypocritical, that does not explain why her response was framed as anti-immigrant, racist and anti-Muslim, or exclude those as being a reason for the tweet being framed in that way.
285 Insofar as the last of Senator Hanson's reasons is concerned, it is framed as a denial and is sought to be justified on the basis that Senator Faruqi showed some sort of reprehensible "attitude" to Australia or Australians. But even if Senator Hanson's tweet was thus primarily actuated by criticism of Senator Faruqi's attitude to Australia and Australians, that does not
