Referendum disinformation targeting migrant groups in Australia’s suburbs

Rampant Voice disinformation “targeting” multicultural Australians with warnings of property loss, school scholarship discrimination and cancelled family visas have left communities “scared” and “confused” about the referendum.

Rampant Voice disinformation “targeting” multicultural Australians with warnings of property loss, school scholarship discrimination and cancelled family visas have left communities “scared” and “confused” about the referendum.

Democracy advocates and local leaders are sounding the alarm over a “torrent” of incorrect information about the Voice to parliament aimed at migrant groups that play on “specific concerns” in their communities.

Messages circulating on the Chinese social media app WeChat suggest small business owners may have to allow “zero dollar buying” — giving away things for free — to Indigenous customers if the Voice succeeds.

Another WeChat post warns “Asian” students could have to “score much higher” in exams to gain entrance into Australian universities over Indigenous people.

One flyer pushed under doors in Parramatta in Sydney’s west told residents “all homeowners will no longer own their homes and instead ‘rent’ the land they own, and all business owners now need to ‘rent’ their business” automatically if the Yes campaign won.

A flyer distributed in Western Sydney falsely claiming a successful Voice vote would automatically result in all homeowners losing their property to Indigenous Australians. Picture: Supplied

The proposed Voice is an advisory body with no legal authority to take land, enforce requirements on businesses or control university entry.

Retired principal and spokeswoman for Democracy Matters, a nonpartisan organisation educating voters about Australia’s electoral system, Judy King said she was “very concerned” about the messages spreading among multicultural groups in Western and south west Sydney.

This anti-Voice post on WeChat reads “I don’t want the Australian University to become like Harvard in the United States — where Asians have to score much higher on entrance exams than Black and Hispanic descendants to get in”. Picture: Supplied

Ms King said Indian Australian parents were “targeted” with rumours their children would miss out on scholarships or positions at selective public schools because “some or all spots would go to Aboriginal children if the Voice wins”.

“A lot of it is spreading by word of mouth,” she said.

“People are approached at a train station or in a shopping centre and told what can only really be described as an outright lie, but it spreads and gets further exaggerated.”

Western Sydney founder of community organisation Afghan Women on the Move, Maryam Zahid, said the disinformation tapped into existing mistrust of government based on experiences in their country of origin.

Maryam Zahid says community leaders need more support to explain the referendum. Picture: Joshua Morris

“Women came to me worried as they heard people in their mosque and from outside saying if you vote ‘yes’ … a future Coalition government may not approve family reunion visas,” she said.

This would be impossible as referendums are a secret ballot.

Ms Zahid said the federal government had leaned too heavily on community leaders to independently come up with in-language videos and content without providing adequate resources to do so.

“It can be scary, there’s language barriers, religious and cultural aspects that can influence views, it’s exhausting for me trying to explain it, imagine how it is for many other women trying to understand,” she said.

“They’re scared and confused.”

The physical material and social media posts are not endorsed by the official No campaign, with content appearing to be produced by random third parties.

A photo of an official City of Parramatta poster altered to appear to be a “vote No” endorsement is one of many examples of misinformation federal Labor MP Andrew Charlton said his community was faced with.

To combat the problem, an online group with 400 local community leaders has been created to quickly seek and share answers to correct false or misleading claims that are detected circulating.

“It’s a community response to a national problem,” Mr Charlton said.