Aussies targeted by fake reports of political squabbles

William Summers April 20, 2026
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Foreign Facebook pages are posting fake reports about Australian parliamentary debates. Image by Lukas Coch/AAP PHOTOS

WHAT WAS CLAIMED

Social media posts report on verbal exchanges in Australia’s federal parliament.

OUR VERDICT

False. The quotes in the posts have been fabricated.

AAP FACTCHECK - Facebook pages are targeting Australians with fake reports of heated political spats. 

The politicians' purported quotes in the posts do not appear in official parliamentary transcripts. 

The accounts responsible are mostly based overseas and appear to post bogus content to drive engagement and make money. 

One post claims to report a heated exchange in the parliamentary chamber between Senator Fatima Payman and Opposition Leader Angus Taylor. 

"SAY ONE MORE STUPID WORD, OLD BOY, AND I'LL MAKE A FOOL OF YOU ON NATIONAL TELEVISION," Senator Payman is quoted as saying.

A screenshot of a Facebook post.
The page is one of a series of foreign-run disinformation Facebook pages targeting Australians. (AAP/Facebook)

Mr Taylor allegedly responded: "You want embarrassment? Try surviving this".

The post claims "a ripple went through the chamber", leaving "the entire senate electrified". 

However, this never happened. 

There is no record of Senator Payman or of Mr Taylor saying those words in Hansard, the official transcript of parliament.

Additionally, Senator Payman sits in the upper house and Mr Taylor is an MP in the House of Representatives.

So they're in different chambers and participate in different debates.

A screenshot of a Facebook post.
The page is managed from Vietnam and Sierra Leone, but posts divisive content targeting Australians. (AAP/Facebook)

The fake interaction was posted by a Facebook page called 'Pet Happiness Club', which, despite its name, posts inflammatory political content.

Facebook transparency details show the page is managed by users in Sierra Leone and Vietnam. 

Another post claims Senator Pauline Hanson criticised the government over flood assistance.

"Why are Queenslanders being left to fend for themselves in one of the worst flood disasters in living memory?" the One Nation leader is quoted as saying. 

A screenshot of a Facebook post.
None of the quotes in the post appear in the Senate's official transcript. (AAP/Facebook)

Again, the quotes are fabricated and do not appear in any Senate transcripts.

The Vietnam-run 'Australia Times' page posted a fake legal threat from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese against Senator Hanson over voter fraud allegations.

"I will sue you, this is fake evidence and it won't count," the PM is quoted as saying.

A screenshot of a Facebook post.
AAP FactCheck has debunked multiple posts from the Australia Times Facebook page. (AAP/Facebook)

However, Senator Hanson and Mr Albanese sit in different parliamentary chambers.

Additionally, the PM's alleged quotes do not appear in Hansard.

Dali Kaafar, executive director of the Macquarie University Cyber Security Hub, previously told AAP FactCheck that the main motivation of Facebook pages posting fake political content was to drive clicks, comments and shares for ad revenue.

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Sources

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