Overview

• Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price refused to apologise after asserting on ABC that Labor prefers migrants from certain countries, naming the Indian community, and agreed when asked if this was an active strategy.
• Within an hour of the broadcast, a Coalition spokeswoman issued a clarification stating Australia’s migration policy is longstanding and non-discriminatory, calling suggestions otherwise a mistake.
• Opposition Leader Sussan Ley publicly praised Indian Australians and said Price had corrected her remarks, while Shadow Attorney-General Julian Leeser lauded the community’s contribution.
• ABC reporting said Liberal figures fear damage to the party’s standing with Indian-Australian voters as the comments drew a fierce backlash across community media and social platforms.
• The dispute follows anti-immigration rallies that promoted anti-Indian rhetoric, with Melbourne neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell charged over an alleged storming of Camp Sovereignty after the protest.