People across Australia are receiving unauthorised pamphlets that make false claims and share conspiracy theories about the Indigenous voice to parliament.
Claims of “apartheid” and a United Nations takeover are among the false information promoted by the materials, copies of which have been seen by Guardian Australia.
A volunteer for the yes campaign, based in the Bega Valley region in New South Wales and who did not want to be named, said she was approached in early September by a woman who handed her a pamphlet.
“Vote no to apartheid”, it reads, referring readers to a handful of websites, including one that shares white supremacist material. Another site linked to a Telegram channel that has posted antisemitic and racist content against the voice.
“I think it’s disturbing that people believe in this information,” the volunteer said.
“I’m genuinely surprised by some of the perspectives that come through from the community.”
The pamphlet was unauthorised, but a similar version with an authorisation from “Roobs Flyers”, with a Gold Coast address, is available for download on a website by the same name. Business records show the name is associated with Spencer Chalifour, an anti-voice activist who goes by Roobs.
Chalifour told Guardian Australia he made the flyers after he said that he had seen plenty of material that supported a yes vote, but hardly any promoting the no campaign.
“I only wanted people to go to that particular article. They don’t have to look at the whole website,” he said. “The same thing applies to all the other links.
“Some people might not like it, some people might agree with it. But at the end of the day you’ve got to make up your own mind don’t you?”
A July post in a Telegram channel associated with “Roobs Flyers” claimed 40,000 copies of the pamphlets that the volunteer received had been printed and dispatched across Australia.
Chalifour has previously apologised for using an artwork by the Indigenous artist Danny Eastwood without permission on another unauthorised anti-voice flyer. He has since removed Eastwood’s artwork from the pamphlet on his website, and added an authorisation after being contacted by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC).
“We have no control over whether or not someone downloaded that previous version of the flyer and printed it out,” Chalifour said. “It’s not on the website any more.”
Under Australian electoral law, print material related to the referendum that aims to influence how people vote must contain authorisation information – typically the name and location of the person or entity distributing the ad or flyer.
Guardian Australia’s call out for referendum campaign material has received a range of unauthorised pamphlets that have been put in letterboxes and handed out, many of which make variations of the claim that the voice will lead to people losing “all ownership of land”.
Debra, a yes campaign volunteer on the NSW Central Coast who did not want her surname published, found a one-page printout in her mailbox about three weeks ago. The document repeated a conspiracy theory suggesting the UN would take over land if the voice were to pass – a claim that has also spread on TikTok – along with a QR code that linked to a website with videos that made similar claims.
She said it was very disturbing to consider it likely came from someone in her area.
“That you’ve got neighbours that think about those things [is disturbing],” Debra said. “[I’m] really disappointed and upset at that level of ridiculousness and outrageousness.”
Another unauthorised flyer shared on Twitter contained a QR code that directs people to a Warren Mundine video on the “Not My Voice” YouTube page, as well as to documents obtained by Sky News through freedom of information that relate to the Uluru statement from the heart. It also shared a range of conjectures about the voice, including that Australians would have to pay additional taxes to the advisory body.
Australians for Unity said it did not produce the pamphlet and that the pamphlet had no association with the official no campaign.
Many of the key phrases and images used in these pamphlets can be found across social media, including on Instagram and Telegram. One of the flyers sent to Guardian Australia, for example, uses a logo similar to a prominent and anonymous no vote account on TikTok. It has no authorisation, and no response was received from an email to an account linked to the TikTok account.
The AEC said the flyers identified by Guardian Australia may require the person behind them to be disclosed, and the material is now being examined by its authorisation team.
“The AEC has long taken a graduated approach to enforcement around authorisations matters for which the first step is to seek a remedy,” a spokesperson said. “In the past, authorisations matters have occurred where the AEC has asked for a remedy – these matters have almost always resulted in remedies being applied swiftly and in full.”
