AAP FactCheck Articles

Claim doctors were murdered over cancer-vaccine discovery is fake

A Facebook post claims to show a research team who were murdered after discovering cancer enzymes in vaccines.

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"Can you hear me" phone scam is fake

AAP FactCheck could not find a source for the original print story pictured in the Facebook post, but found a similar story in the Queensland newspaper the Sunshine Coast Daily on page five of the April 28, 2017 edition.

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Have debt recovery notices been issued in flood-affected Townsville despite federal government assurances they haven’t?

“Let me say at present under the income compliance program, no victims in the four postcodes around Townsville have received a debt notice." Government Services Minister Stuart Robert. July 30, 2019.

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"Be happy" quote attributed to Shakespeare is fake

Tiffany Stern, Professor of Shakespeare and Early Modern Drama at the University of Birmingham, advised AAP FactCheck the quote had “nothing in common with Shakespeare ... and is not even a parody of the way he wrote”.

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Bill Murray did not tell parents to teach kids about tax by eating 30 per cent of their ice-cream

US actor Bill Murray has starred in a number of high profile films, including Ghostbusters I and II (1984 and 1989), Groundhog Day (1993), Rushmore (1998) and Lost in Translation (2003), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor.

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Image of giant whales swimming under a Malaysian bridge is fake

AAP FactCheck analysed the image and found the bridge in the picture was the Sungai Johor Bridge in Malaysia. The bridge is 1.7 kilometres long and is part of the Senai Desaru Expressway which connects the towns of Senai and Desaru across the Johor River in the south of Malaysia.

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Did UK activist Raheem Kassam describe the Koran as ‘fundamentally evil’ and Islam as a ‘fascistic ideology?

“He has described the Koran, the holy book of the Islam faith, he has described it as quote ‘fundamentally evil’. He has described Islam as a ‘fascistic ideology’.” Kristina Keneally, Labor's Home Affairs spokesperson. July 31, 2019.

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Fake Che Guevara image depicts student guerilla theatre

Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara was a prominent communist figure in the 1956 -1959 Cuban Revolution who acted as an executioner (or ordered the execution) of suspected traitors and deserters.

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Immigration quote attributed to Prime Minister Barton is by US President Theodore Roosevelt

Edmund Barton was Australian prime minister from federation in 1901 until he resigned in 1903 to become a High Court judge, a position he held until his death in 1920. During his term as prime minister Sir Edmund also served as External Affairs Minister, responsible for foreign policy and immigration.

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Sydney Roosters rugby league club is not the world’s second most valuable sports team

American business magazine Forbes publishes an annual list of the world’s top 50 most valuable sports teams based on profits before “earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization”. It published its latest list on July 22, 2019.

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Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews did not say mosque protesters had "no right" to demonstrate

There have been several public protests against Bendigo’s Islamic Community Centre since a permit was approved in June 2014, including a mock beheading outside Bendigo council offices by Blair Cottrell, Neil Erikson and Christopher Neil Shortis. They were subsequently convicted of inciting serious contempt towards Muslims and each fined $2,000.

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Label showing halal logo on canned pork is fake

The Australian National Imams Council (ANIC) states it is the only central Islamic body that holds key representation from Australian-based Muslim clerics in all States and Territories, with 200 registered Imams country-wide.

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Alan Jones did not conduct poll on children learning Arabic numbers in school

The radio 2GB website claims Alan Jones is “Australia’s most popular talkback presenter”. “Alan Jones is a phenomenon,” it states. “He’s described by many as the nation’s greatest orator and motivational speaker. Alan has the mind and capacity to make complex issues understandable to the largest Breakfast audience in Australia.” The second 2019 radio survey results showed Alan Jones remained at the top of the Sydney AM breakfast market.

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There's no visible difference between bananas ripened chemically or naturally

The Australian Banana Growers’ Council (ABGC), the national peak industry body for Australia’s commercial banana growers, told AAP FactCheck “the chemical ripening process is essentially the same as the natural ripening process, just in a more controlled environment” and that both were triggered by the same hormone, ethylene gas.

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Ned Kelly post depicts German communist philosopher Friedrich Engels

According to the National Museum of Australia (NMA) Ned Kelly was a bushranger who was born around 1855 the eldest son of eight children to Irish parents. His father John was a convict who’d been transported to Australia for stealing pigs and his mother Ellen was a migrant.

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Australian taxpayers don't fund children's terrorism or jihad lessons

Revive Australia’s post contains a link to a story with the same headline from a website called The Politics Online, which publishes news-style posts, many of which are critical of Islam.

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Innisfail in north Queensland is not an “agent orange town”

AAP FactCheck found the photo which accompanies the post was taken in Vietnam in 1962, not in Innisfail, Northern Queensland in 1966. It shows a United States Air Force Fairchild UC-123B Provider transport aircraft spraying defoliant in South Vietnam in 1962 during Operation Ranch Hand. The image was sourced to a 1984 book by Dana Bell titled, “Air War over Vietnam”, Volume IV.

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Bulldog urinating on Yassmin Abdel-Magied mural is fake

AAP FactCheck found the image posted by The Voice of Australia was a doctored version of Mr Rudd’s original mural.

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Are there 462,000 unemployed people in Australia?

“There’s 462,000 people that are unemployed in Australia and a lot more that are underemployed and looking for more work.” One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson. July 22, 2019

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Do 45 per cent of year six students not know where bananas, cheese and bread come from?

"Seventy-five per cent of grade six students believed cotton socks came from an animal and 45 per cent believed bananas, bread and cheese didn’t come from farming.” Scott Morrison, Prime Minister. July 18, 2019.

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