WHAT WAS CLAIMED
Victoria is banning the sale of Toyota LandCruisers.
OUR VERDICT
False. The state is banning sales of machetes, not LandCruisers.
AAP FACTCHECK - False claims that Victoria is banning the sale of Toyota LandCruisers are based on a fake quote attributed to Premier Jacinta Allan.
The state is not banning sales of the four-wheel drive model, and Ms Allan's purported quote is a made-up variation of a statement she made several weeks earlier about banning machetes.
The claim is in Facebook posts sharing a screenshot of an X post featuring an image of the premier at a press conference along with her purported quote.
The posts appeared after a stolen Toyota LandCruiser was driven through a Melbourne shopping centre, and are an apparently satirical take on a previously announced ban on machetes following an incident at the same mall.
"BREAKING: Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan has announced a ban on the sale of Toyota LandCruisers around Victoria," the X post reads.
The post then purports to quote Ms Allan describing the rationale for banning LandCruisers.
"We recognise the interim sales ban affects your existing stock and sales - but we must get these vehicles off our streets, out of our malls, and out of our lives," the alleged quote reads.
Some X users suggest the original X post was satirical, but it has been as shared on Facebook as if it was authentic news, with some users taking it seriously and calling Ms Allan "mentally unhinged" and "a moron".
The image of the premier used in the posts is from her May 26, 2025, press conference announcing an interim ban on machete sales.
The announcement followed several violent incidents involving the knives, including a brawl at Melbourne's Northland shopping centre on May 25.
The premier's office published a press release that day, which includes a near identical statement to her purported quote in the X post.
"We recognise the interim sale ban affects your existing stock and sales – but we must get these knives off shelves, off streets, and out of our lives," the authentic statement says.
However, the X post swaps the word "knives" for "vehicles" and inserts the term "out of our malls".
The post was published after the Toyota LandCruiser was driven through the Northland shopping centre, on June 18, several weeks after the machete ban was announced.
When contacted by AAP FactCheck, Ms Allan's office confirmed there were no plans to ban the sale of LandCruisers in Victoria and called the claims "ridiculous".
AAP FactCheck is an accredited member of the International Fact-Checking Network. To keep up with our latest fact checks, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, BlueSky, TikTok and YouTube.
