Modi draws huge crowd in Melbourne as migration tensions rise

Narendra Modi drew more than 20,000 people to Melbourne’s Docklands Stadium on Thursday, where supporters filled the booked-out Melbourne Meets Modi gathering as Indian flags waved outside and far-right protesters assembled nearby. The public reception unfolded during Modi’s July 8 to 10 visit to Australia, with Anthony Albanese joining him in Melbourne for annual leaders’ talks.

Australia had 8.8 million overseas-born residents at 30 June 2025, equal to 32.0 percent of the population, and people born in India recorded the largest increase since 2015 among overseas-born groups. Earlier ABS figures put the India-born population at 846,000. Indian-born Australians are the fastest-growing major migrant community in the country.

Albanese’s government has tied the relationship with India to trade, security and people-to-people links, and the Melbourne summit produced further cooperation between the two governments. Modi was the most frequent visiting Indian prime minister in the history of the bilateral relationship, while Canberra and New Delhi projected warmth and strategic alignment.

Anti-immigration activists organized a protest around the Melbourne event. Home Affairs Minister Anne Aly later said earlier anti-immigration marches had tapped housing, infrastructure and population-control grievances while explicitly targeting Indian immigration. In 2025, the Australian government condemned nationwide rallies that singled out Indian migrants, warning that far-right activism rooted in racism and ethnocentrism had no place in modern Australia.