With the Voice to Parliament referendum taking place on October 14, campaigning on both sides is heating up and it can be hard to sort fact from misinformation.
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But don't worry: we at The Canberra Times are here to fact check some of the biggest claims being thrown around in the lead up to voting day.
Today we are investigating a claim we've seen cropping up online and in comment sections over the last few weeks: the Uluru Statement of the Heart is a 26-page document, not a one-page document.
What's the verdict?
This claim is false: the Uluru Statement from the Heart is one page long.
So where did this idea come from?
We need to go back to August, when Sky News presenter Peta Credlin claimed on her program that the Uluru Statement from the Heart - the document that originally called for a constitutionally enshrined Indigenous Voice to Parliament - is not one page, but 26 pages long.
Why? Ms Credlin said that the additional 25 pages were provided by the National Indigenous Australians Agency under what's known as a freedom-of-information request (where you request a document from a government agency under law).
She alleged that the government was lying about it being a one page statement, and added that these extra 25 pages were only obtainable under FOI request.
Since Ms Credlin's broadcast, the claim has been picked up and repeated by parts of the "no" campaign and some politicians, including opposition spokeswoman for Indigenous Australians Jacinta Price.
So what is in these extra 25 pages?
The Uluru Statement of the Heart is a single one page document (or 439 words long). You read it here.
It's the result of 13 regional dialogues held with First Nations people across the country, and was signed in 2017 by more than 250 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander delegates at the First Nations National Constitutional Convention in Uluru.
The first page of the document obtained under FOI does contain the Statement from the Heart.
But the National Indigenous Australians Agency told The Canberra Times that the extra 25 pages provided are "background information and excerpts of regional dialogues that informed the one-page Uluru Statement from the Heart".
The document includes several pages titled "Our Story", which chronicles the shared history of First Nations people that the Regional Dialogues "bore witness to".
It also summarises several "guiding principles" from the Dialogues, which "have historically underpinned declarations and calls for reform by First Nations".
The document goes on to outline the three reforms called for in the Uluru Statement from the Heart - Voice, truth-telling, and treaty - and provides a "roadmap" of how to achieve them.
Is this the first time these pages became available?
No - most of the pages had already been published in the Referendum Council's report, dated June 2017.
These have also been previously reported in the media.
What about these comments from Professor Megan Davis?
Some people have also circulated a speech from Uluru Statement co-author Professor Megan Davis in 2018 as proof that the statement is longer than a page.
In the speech, Professor Davis said that "the Uluru Statement from the Heart isn't just the first one-page statement; it's actually a very lengthy document of about 18 to 20 pages, and a very powerful part of this document reflects what happened in the dialogues".
"On the first day each region shared really specific nuanced stories about Australian history and Aboriginal history in their region and together we drafted what we called 'Our Story', which is the Aboriginal version of Australian history," she said.
But Professor Davis has since taken to Twitter to clarify that she was referring to the Referendum Council's report, which included the section on "Our Story".
"Oh grow up. This is desperate. My comment refers to the Referendum Council report. That's the official report. The Uluru statement is ONE PAGE. 'Our story' is a First Nations history of Australia that follows it. This is super misinformation/disinformation," she tweeted.
Has the Prime Minister read the statement?
We've also heard the claim - echoed by sections of the media - that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hasn't read the Uluru Statement from the Heart "in full", which they argue is bad given how he and Labor are championing the Voice.
Whether or not this claim is true depends on whether you believe the Uluru Statement from the Heart is one page long, or 26 pages long.
The Prime Minister has said that he has read the one-page Uluru Statement from the Heart multiple times (and has a copy of it hanging up in his parliamentary office).
But he told 3AW host Neil Mitchell that he hadn't read the additional 25 pages of background information and meeting notes that the NIAA provided.
Whichever way you choose to vote in the upcoming Voice referendum, we are here to answer your questions and cut through the spin.
Let us know what claims you would like our team to fact-check next in the comments below.
Justine Landis-Hanley
I'm a federal politics and public sector reporter at The Canberra Times, with an interest in integrity, regulation, and social services. Contact me with tips and feedback at justine.landishanley@canberratimes.com.au.
I'm a federal politics and public sector reporter at The Canberra Times, with an interest in integrity, regulation, and social services. Contact me with tips and feedback at justine.landishanley@canberratimes.com.au.
