An AI-generated image showing Indian food replacing the traditional snags at a Bunnings sausage sizzle is being used to stir up dissent among Australians.

The image shows three men standing under a gazebo in front of a Bunnings store with a sign that says “AUTHENTIC INDIAN FOOD”.

In front of the trio is a table with trays of what appears to be a range of Indian cuisine.

It’s part of a Facebook post that states: “BREAKING: Bunnings has fallen.”

“In its place: Butter Chicken, Samosas and ‘Authentic Indian Food from the Heart of India’ right under the green canopy.

“Not even the great Aussie tradition of a snag can be left alone by ‘diversity’. Is nothing in Australia sacred anymore? Our culture is slowly being erased.”

Similar posts have reportedly also circulated on X.

But the image shows clear signs it has been created using artificial intelligence, including sauce bottles in the foreground that appear to merge into one another.

The fake Indian food image appears to be based on a genuine photo published online in January 2026. Photo: Facebook/AAP

OpenAI’s verification tool confirms the picture in the Facebook post has a digital SynthID watermark, meaning it was generated using AI.

The AI-generated image appears to be based on a genuine photo posted on Facebook on January 3 that shows three people at a traditional Bunnings sausage sizzle with no Indian food on offer.

Bunnings’ barbecues are run by grassroots community groups as fundraisers. They are wildly popular and considered a weekend tradition by many Australians.

Any changes attract debate and, often, controversy – such as in 2018 when the hardware giant ruled that onions had to go on the bread before the sausage.

It cited health and safety concerns for the change, saying pieces of onion dropped by hungry shoppers had created “slipping hazards” at stores. But the shift attracted widespread scorn online and elsewhere.

Then Today show host Karl Stefanovic even insisted it was “un-Australian”.

“This will ruin Australia,” he told his audience,warning that the country would not “make it through today if this happened”.

“Bunnings, you get a lot of things right. But, I’m sorry, you got this one wrong. You don’t mess with perfection.”

In 2022, there was more outrage when Bunnings announced the price of a sausage in bread would go from $2.50 to $3.50 – the first price hike in 15 years.

Under Bunnings’ rules, only sausages, onions, bread, condiments and drinks can be sold at its famous sausage sizzle fundraisers.

A spokesperson for the retailer said the image was fake and there had been no change to the sausage sizzle policy.

The fake posts about Indian food being served at Bunnings comes amid a rise in anti-immigration rhetoric in Australia, including nationwide marches last year.

There has also been widespread criticism of the Albanese government and its migration policies. Far-right party One Nation, which has confirmed it wants to cap annual migration at 130,000 a year, is also riding high in the polls.

-AAP