Thread by @JamesEltonPym

Extraordinary #fakenews moment in #auspol. Let me explain. (thread)

1. Liberal senator @senatorlucy posts on Facebook claiming there are '10,000' scholarships available for African students coming up next year, funded by Australia.

sbs.com.au/news/fake-post…
@SBSNews #auspol

2. One Nation's @PaulineHansonOz slams a "disgraceful waste of taxpayer money”. Outrage ensues.

3. The Australian runs the story, claiming there are 10,000 places: theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/ha…

@mpsmithnews repeats the error: michaelsmithnews.com/2018/05/10000-…

4. I try to check the facts and there are lots of copy-pastes around the African scholarship web claiming "10,000" and lots claiming "1,000". I think one typo was amplified. See this post, for example, which links to the same page as Gichuhi, who has since deleted her post.

5. DFAT does not immediately confirm numbers. I'm still waiting for an official response and a figure from them, but a study published in 2013 suggests it was 1,000 places then. I believe it is 1,000 places still afsaap.org.au/assets/ARAS_vo…

6. Gichuhi's advisor tells me: "We have received advice that the post was fake." Minutes later, the senator's official Facebook issues an apology and says they were "victim of fake news".

7. UPDATE: An hour after Gichuhi's retraction, Hanson tells @2GB873 she still believes the 10,000 is "fair dinkum" but she asked DFAT for a "please explain".

In a statement to me, she says: "The government might want to call it fake news but the price tag looks very real".

8. $320 million price tag IS real, but DFAT's 'Australia Awards' fund scholarships for students from dozens of countries across the Asia-Pacific, Africa and the Middle East: dfat.gov.au/people-to-peop…

9. The Oz has since changed their wording. theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/ha…

The Daily Mail? Still outraged.

10. FINAL UPDATE: Full response from @JulieBishopMP on African scholarships here.

Senator Gichuhi, Senator Hanson, The Australian, Daily Mail, etc all claimed there were TEN THOUSAND scholarships for Africans this year.

The real figure? 495.