For News Corp tabloids it was a delicious scoop: evidence that Labor had opened the floodgates to the families and partners of asylum seekers who arrived by boat, issuing them 21,581 permanent visas over an 18-month period.
Cue furious headlines and condemnation from shock jocks aghast at the revelations.
Shadow Home Affairs Minister James Paterson leapt into the fray.
“No wonder people smugglers are testing Australia’s resolve again — they think Labor will eventually give in as they have with this cohort,” Senator Paterson said in a quote included in the article published on Tuesday.
The only catch? The figures weren’t correct: they were inflated by a factor of 10.
The actual figure was 2,158.
The false figure was repeated throughout the course of the day in a remarkable example of how misinformation can take hold and spread across both mainstream and social media.
It has since even spurred on conspiracy theories about an influx of asylum seekers being used to rig future elections for Labor.
How an error sparked a misinformation spiral
On January 28, News Corp mastheads including the Herald Sun, Daily Telegraph and Courier-Mail published the exclusive article on their front pages.
According to the article the 21,581 figure was based on “new” information from the Department of Home Affairs.
The article suggested the influx was tied to asylum seeker visa reforms introduced by the Albanese government in February 2023.
The idea that Albanese government reforms had led to a sudden influx of asylum seekers’ families gaining permanent residency outraged Shadow Home Affairs Minister Senator James Paterson.
The story appeared on the front page of Sydney’s Daily Telegraph as well as Melbourne’s Herald Sun and Brisbane’s Courier-Mail. (The Daily Telegraph)
Senator Paterson made several media appearances to discuss the findings, claiming the government was encouraging asylum seekers to “bring in partners and family in huge numbers”.
A tally of media mentions of the incorrect figure in print, television and radio indicates that it was repeated dozens of times over the course of the day.
The Herald Sun published a correction on its website that afternoon and in print the next day and website versions of the article on other News Corp mastheads were also amended.
But the incorrect figures had been repeated on programs including Channel Seven’s Sunrise, multiple Sky News Australia shows and radio stations including Melbourne talk station 3AW, which interviewed Senator Paterson on the figures. During the segment, host Tom Elliott said the visas amounted to a “reward” to asylum seekers.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke was unimpressed. On Tuesday evening he issued a statement accusing Senator Paterson of spreading “misinformation”.
Despite the correction by the Herald Sun, the false figure remained on Senator Paterson’s website until Thursday.
But the misinformation continued to spread, amplified by far-right social media accounts and encrypted chatrooms.
In these spaces it helped fuel conspiracy theories about an influx of asylum seekers being deployed to “rig” elections in Labor’s favour.
A Telegram post based on the News Corp report.
“It’s all about rigging future elections for labour [sic]. They did the same thing in California years ago,” one Telegram user posted.
The false figures have also continued to flow around mainstream social media platforms, including a Facebook post from the Herald Sun that remained online without correction on Friday.
How did it happen?
ABC NEWS Verify has contacted the Herald Sun, the Department of Home Affairs and Senator Paterson to understand how the incorrect figure came to be reported as front-page news.
It began when the correct figure was published on the Parliament House website in response to questions by Greens Senator David Shoebridge during a Senate estimates hearing last November.
A Herald Sun Facebook post from January 28, 2025.
ABC NEWS Verify understands the Department of Home Affairs’ theory about how the incorrect figure came to be reported is that a footnote that appeared next to the correct figure was mistakenly included. That footnote was numbered “1” and appears to have been incorrectly appended to the total.
The ABC asked the Herald Sun and Senator Paterson for their account of how the false figures came to be reported and amplified by one of the federal opposition’s most senior frontbenchers.
Senator Paterson did not respond directly to the ABC’s questions but said in a statement that “Tony Burke has the wrong priorities” and should spend more time “fighting antisemitism”.
The Herald Sun did not respond to questions from the ABC.
The Home Affairs Department provided the figures in response to a question from Greens senator David Shoebridge. (ABC News: Luke Stephenson, file photo)
Senator Shoebridge’s office told the ABC: “Australians have a right to seek visas to reunite with their children, partners and loved ones. It shows the extent of dehumanisation of people seeking asylum that people reuniting with family and loved ones can somehow be seen as a scandal. The fact the Coalition jumped to condemn this says so much about them.”
The ABC is on the hunt for any misinformation or disinformation circulating in the lead-up to the federal election. Send us a tip by filling out the form below, or if you require more secure communication, select an option from our confidential tips page.
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