An image shared online purports to show Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney with a sign urging a vote against the proposed voice to parliament.
This is false. The image creator has manipulated a photograph of Ms Burney unveiling her own portrait honouring her historic achievements as an Indigenous woman to produce malicious misinformation.
In the altered image, the portrait painting has been replaced with text reading: “THE VOICE VOTE NO Racist, Apartheid, Divisive, Toxic”.
The Facebook post (screenshot here) has been shared dozens of times by opponents of the voice, including here and here.
It is a digitally altered version of an original photograph of Ms Burney unveiling her official portrait at Parliament House in Canberra on February 13, 2019.
The event was photographed by Australian Associated Press (AAP) and the original image can be seen in AAP’s photo archives.
Ms Burney’s portrait is in the Historic Memorials Collection at Parliament House.
It was commissioned to commemorate the significance of the Wiradjuri woman being the first Indigenous woman in the House of Representatives.
Ms Burney is a leading advocate for a constitutionally enshrined voice to parliament, which Australians will vote on in a referendum later this year, and has never expressed sentiments like those in the doctored image.
The minister has repeatedly spoken in favour of the proposed Indigenous advisory body, as seen in her National Press Club address in Canberra in July 2023.
“For too long governments have made policies for Indigenous Australians, not with Indigenous Australians,” Ms Burney said in her speech.
“We need the voice to change that. We need the voice because we need to work in partnership with communities. We need the voice because we need to do better.”
It is not the first time a photograph of Ms Burney has been manipulated to misrepresent her position on the upcoming referendum on the voice.
AAP FactCheck exposed this attempt in April when a photograph including Ms Burney was altered to make it appear people were holding signs opposing the voice.
The Verdict
The claim federal Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney stood in front of a sign urging a “no” vote against the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice is false.
The image is a manipulated version of a 2019 photograph taken when Ms Burney unveiled a portrait in Parliament House.
False – The claim is inaccurate.
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