Australia’s Opposition leader Peter Dutton has been mocked on social media for grovelling to Indian voters with a visit to a Hindu temple in Sydney in the lead-up to the federal election.
Mr Dutton said “faith-based communities are a vital part of Australia’s story” and shared photos of himself standing in front of a giant metal statue of a Hindu idol at the BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir complex in Kemps Creek on Sunday.
His visit came a week after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese turned up at the same temple for the foreign festival of Holi, where he also posed in front of the statue, wore a garland and clasped his hands together in prayer as his government promised to fund Australia’s first Hindu school at the site.
Mr Dutton made a similar promise and made similar gestures on Sunday, saying: “Today, we announced support for the Hindu community’s long-standing vision to establish Australia’s first Hindu faith school.”
But his followers on X and Facebook were put off by the pandering, with many mocking his efforts to win over Australia’s growing Indian voting bloc, one calling it the “worst campaign ever”, and others saying it looked like he was imitating Mr Albanese.
“All you have done the past month is prioritise foreign cultures, ideologies and preach ‘diversity’ while ignoring the obvious problems this has created for our country and Australians,” wrote popular Aussie patriot commentator Lozzy B on X.
“We want a Government that prioritises Australians and our culture, our customs, our traditions and our values.”
“Amazing how ‘faith-based communities’ get written into the national story the moment they became a voting bloc. Revisionism at its finest, they have no history here,” wrote TikToker Auspill.
Another poster shared a video of Mr Dutton that went viral after resurfacing during the week of the Liberal Party leader saying in 2023 saying he wants more Indian immigration, writing: “Peter Dutton wants millions of people from India to flood Australia.”
In the video clip Mr Dutton says: “We’re blessed in this country to have almost – quickly rising – not quite a million but getting toward a million people here of Indian heritage and we’re very fortunate to have them here, and we want the numbers to continue to increase.”
“We’re blessed in this country to have almost – quickly rising – not quite a million but getting toward a million people here of Indian heritage and we’re very fortunate to have them here, and we want the numbers to continue to increase.”
— Peter Dutton (May, 2023) pic.twitter.com/Sce5Bb6k7z
— druid (@spergwit) March 18, 2025
A Facebook commenter observed: “Everyone was expecting an Australian Trump at the start and now you want us to vote for another Albo.”
“Pandering to the minorities like Albo? Thought you were better than that,” said a second Aussie voter.
Other commenters asked why Mr Dutton had not made similar attempts to pander to Christians and Muslims.
“Pete. How about you visit a Christian church thus Easter and hang out with Christians of non-colour for a change,” asked one.
“Pete, we didn’t see you in any of the Iftars during Ramadan. You still have a week to go, come down and show your love to faith-based communities,” said another.
The comments were so overwhelmingly negative that one person observed: “Advertising this on here is just a humiliation fetish at this point.”
The 15 metre-tall statue of Hindu figure Neelkanth Varni was unveiled earlier this month at a ceremony attended by MPs from both major parties, and is the tallest metal statue in Australia.
It is part of a $41 million “cultural precinct” constructed by global Hindu group BAPS which covers an area of land the size of 41 football fields.
Since winning the 2022 federal election Mr Albanese has overseen the arrival of a about 1.5 million immigrants into Australia – with India being the largest source country – pushing the Indian-born population to an estimated 1 million.
He also signed a sweeping immigration deal in May 2023 that critics called “open borders for India”, which included a scheme allowing thousands of Indian graduates or young professionals to live and work in Australia for two years, and then apply for permanent skilled visas.
And last month Mr Albanese launched the Roadmap for Australia’s Economic Engagement with India, which included a promise to “fully implement” the Mechanism for the Mutual Recognition of Qualifications between Australia and India, which was signed in 2023.
The deal forces Australia to recognise all Indian educational qualifications from secondary school through to the doctorate degree level, for both education and general employment purposes.
Header image: Peter Dutton in front of the Kemps Creek temple (Facebook).
