Posts falsely claim Australian referendum will enter voters into 'contracts' with govt

"Commonwealth of Australia is in liquidation," text in a 56-second video posted on Facebook on August 27 reads. "The GOV-Corp needs you to re-contract with them. What better way than to hold a very controversial referendum to sign you up to be slaves all over again."

The video then switches to a screengrab of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) website -- a government agency that manages business registrations -- which shows an entry for a company under the name "Commonwealth of Australia (Liquidation and Managing Controller Appointed)".

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Screengrab of the misleading post.

The claim surfaced ahead of a referendum to be held in Australia on October 14, where eligible voters will be asked whether to give Indigenous people a constitutional right to be consulted on laws that impact their communities -- the so-called "Voice to Parliament".

The claim has also been shared hundreds of times on Facebook here and here, X -- formerly known as Twitter -- and Telegram.

However, the claim is false.

A spokesperson for the ASIC told AFP on September 8 that the screenshot shows an unsuccessful attempt to register a company under the name in the false claim.

"The name was refused on 1 September 2023," the spokesperson said, who went on to say details of the proposed business were removed from the ASIC website following the decision.

The spokesperson also said Australia "is not a company capable of going into liquidation".

Legal experts have refuted the claim that voters will be signed into a contract if they take part in the Voice referendum.

Gabrielle Appleby, a law professor at the University of New South Wales, told AFP on September 4 that referendums are not contracts but an "exercise of a constitutional vote".

"The government runs the practicalities of the referendum, but the vote is in no way a contract with the government," she added.

Appleby also said if the referendum is passed, the relationship between the body created from the vote and other constitutional institutions is not contractual.

"Just like the relationship between parliament and government isn't a contract, or the relationship between the government and the courts. These are constitutional relationships," she said.

Paul Kildea, another law professor at the same university, told AFP on September 4 that "this referendum proposal has nothing to do with creating new contracts between citizens and the Australian government, or between the government and a Voice".

"A 'yes' vote would not create new contractual relations of any kind," he said.

AFP has debunked misinformation related to the referendum previously, including here, here and here.