Kim Beazley dismisses claim he foreshadowed 'totalitarian republic' via Voice referendum as 'rubbish'

^{By David Campbell}

The former Labor leader and governor of Western Australia Kim Beazley has been dragged into the Voice to Parliament debate, as social media users against the proposal repackage a years-old fabrication that draws on the language of so-called sovereign citizens.

Numerous Facebook posts have argued that the "real reason" for the Voice referendum is to create a "contract" between the government and Indigenous Australians, which would then allow the United Nations to "take control over ownership of housing, farms, property and business" and help realise its "secretive push for a totalitarian republic". 

According to the posts: "In 1990, Federal Politician Kim Beasley [sic] made a statement in response to [Labor] Senator [John] Button's question in the Australian Federal Parliament about whether there should be a republic." 

Mr Beazley was said to have responded: "The United Nations has given the Federal Government a mandate of ownership for housing, farms, property and business to government control once the REPUBLIC has been proclaimed."

However, this exchange never happened.

In an email to RMIT FactLab, Mr Beazley said the quote was "complete rubbish", particularly as it would make no sense for him to be fielding questions from a "senate cabinet colleague" on the same side of politics and in the wrong chamber of parliament.

"It is meaningless," he said, adding that the UN "doesn’t give us a mandate on anything".

"Can’t recall saying anything like that or a context in which l would say it."

Indeed, a search of the federal parliamentary Hansard reveals just four instances of Mr Beazley uttering the phrase "United Nations" in the lower house of parliament between July 1987 and March 1993 (the 35th and 36th parliaments, which straddle 1990). 

Of these, three were about the 1990 Gulf War, while the third was in relation to the tabling of documents in parliament. 

During this period, the only time Mr Beazley uttered the words "united", "nations" and "mandate" in the same speech was during the second reading of a telecommunications bill in 1991. 

FactLab also searched for statements by the late Senator Button, but found just one that mentioned the word "republic" in 1990 – again, regarding the Gulf War.

The fabricated quote has been circulating since at least 2014, when it appeared in a petition urging Australians not to forget the nation's constitution. 

The latest social media posts incorporate references to conspiracy theories about the World Economic Forum that have flourished during the COVID-19 pandemic.