WHAT WAS CLAIMED
A video shows a Brisbane bus stop being converted back into a bomb shelter.
OUR VERDICT
False. The council is not converting the bus stop and the video appears to be AI-generated.
AAP FACTCHECK - An Australian city is not converting heritage-listed bus stops back into bomb shelters amid concerns about conflict in the Middle East, despite claims online.
Brisbane City Council says it has no bomb shelter program and a video claiming to show a bus shelter being converted appears to have been generated using artificial intelligence (AI).
The claim appears in an Instagram post featuring a time-lapse video of people boarding up a bus stop.
"BREAKING: Brisbane's WWII Bus Shelters Reinstated Amid Global Tensions," the caption reads.
"In an unexpected turn of events, Brisbane's iconic WWII-era bus shelters—originally constructed as air-raid shelters during the 1940s—are being repurposed once again for their original intent. This development follows the collapse of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Iran, leading to heightened global security concerns."
The caption claims "Brisbane City Council initiated the reactivation of these shelters" after Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei allegedly issued a statement disapproving of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's support for Israel, "prompting concerns about potential retaliatory actions" against Australia.
Text overlaying the video reads: "July 3rd 2025: Brisbane's famous converted bus stops being reconverted back to bomb shelters after the Israel-Iran ceasefire fails."
During World War II, more than 200 air raid shelters were built across the city, but remained mostly unused, according to Brisbane City Council website.
Most were demolished after the war, but some were converted for public use, according to the Queensland State Archives.
About 20 remain standing, including two that were converted into bus shelters, ABC News reported in 2019.
Brisbane City Council says the claims in the Instagram post are false.
"No such program exists," a council spokesperson told AAP FactCheck.
The bus stop shown in the video matches the Newmarket bus stop on Google Street View and is a former WWII bomb shelter.
AAP FactCheck was unable to independently source the time-lapse video in the posts, but there are clear signs it's AI-generated.
The image, shadows and people shown at the start of the video are identical to a photo posted on Wikipedia in 2015.
The vehicle in the background of the video also matches the one in the Wikipedia image.
The vehicle remains parked on a corner behind the bus stop in both the first and second parts of the video; however, Google Street View shows that this part of the road is a turning lane at an intersection, meaning it's a no-parking zone.
Despite claims in the post, AAP FactCheck was also unable to find any credible reports that the Iranian leader issued a disapproving statement about Mr Albanese or Australia at the time.
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