An article in The Australian newspaper originally stated that “183 alleged arsonists” had been arrested since the start of the bushfire season.



The story, titled “Firebugs fuelling crisis as national arson arrest toll hits 183” said 183 people had been arrested for lighting bushfires across Queensland, NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania “in the past few months”. The article was picked up and shared widely by prominent social media users, including Donald Trump Jr.

But the initial version of the article was misleading in two ways: first, the figures from some states included times outside of the current bushfire season, and second, some of the figures encompassed a range of offences that included non-arson crimes.

It has since been edited to state that the 183 arrests figure is from the start of 2019, and to alter some of the other figures.

BuzzFeed News contacted the authorities to verify the numbers.

Queensland Police said 109 people had been charged with “recklessly and/or deliberately setting fires” since Sept. 10, 2019. This includes non-arson crimes (such as contravening a fire ban) but police declined to clarify how many of those charges were in relation to deliberate setting of fires.

NSW police have charged 24 people over “allegedly deliberately-lit bushfires” since Nov. 8, 2019.

The Australian article said “Victoria reported 43 charged for 2019”. This figure appears to have come from the number of offences recorded in Victoria between October 2018 and September 2019, a period of time outside of the current bushfire season. Additionally, Victoria’s Crime Statistics Agency told BuzzFeed News that 12 people were arrested or given a summons for causing a bushfire in this same period.

South Australia Police have charged 10 people for “intentionally or recklessly lighting bushfires” since Sept. 1, 2019. The article did not specify how many had been charged.

Since July 1, 2019 Tasmania Police have charged two people for “unlawfully setting fire to vegetation” and five for “arson”. The Australian’s article, however, initially said five had been charged for unlawfully setting fire to vegetation, and later revised that figure to four.

Have you seen false or misleading information about the bushfires circulating online? Email cameron.wilson@buzzfeed.com.

