Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in Melbourne on 8 July, a far-right anti-immigration activist accessed the first-floor balcony of the Sofitel Melbourne, where Modi was staying, and shouted expletives before police removed him.
Hugo Lennon, 33, who goes by AUSPILL on social media, posted a video of the incident on X at approximately 12.30 am on 9 July, captioned “I gave India’s prime minister an Aussie (un)welcome.” The video shows Lennon shouting “this is Australia,” “no more Indians,” “we don’t want any more migration” and “this country is for Australians” before police officers swarmed him and escorted him from the premises. No arrest or charge has been confirmed by Victoria Police.
The incident took place just hours after Modi arrived at Melbourne Airport and was greeted by Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan and federal MP Clare O’Neil, before being welcomed by hundreds of Indian-Australians with cultural performances including a Kathak recital and a fusion performance featuring Australia’s didgeridoo and India’s tabla.
What happened at the hotel
Lennon arrived at the Sofitel Melbourne, a five-star hotel in the CBD, in the early hours of 9 July. The exact manner in which he accessed the building’s first-floor balcony has not been confirmed by Victoria Police or the hotel. The Indian Sun, an Australian publication covering the Indian diaspora, reported he was “briefly removed by police while protesting outside the hotel.”
The video Lennon posted shows him standing on a balcony area inside or adjacent to the hotel building, shouting the slogans before being physically surrounded by police and removed. He described the incident on social media as an “Aussie (un)welcome.”
Before the incident, Lennon had posted a reel on social media showing himself eating butter chicken, captioned “Nothing hits better than a butter chicken the night before an anti-India protest” and “We have the recipes now.”
Victoria Police has not issued a statement specifically naming Lennon or confirming whether charges will be laid. NRI Affairs has contacted Victoria Police for comment.
The protest outside Marvel Stadium
Later on 9 July, Lennon and co-organiser Mitch Hobbs, known online as Sir Doug, led a far-right anti-immigration protest outside the Melbourne Meets Modi community event at Marvel Stadium in Docklands, where thousands of Indian-Australians had gathered for the sold-out event with Modi, Albanese and Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan.
Protesters carried banners reading “Modi go home: take the rest with you” and “stop Indian invasion.” Lennon addressed the protest crowd, saying: “There are 30,000 people in attendance to this rally by foreign leader Narendra Modi. Modi leads a party in India that’s far-right, but Albo doesn’t seem to care.”
About 20 Sikh separatist protesters also gathered separately outside the stadium, alongside a small group of human rights activists. Their presence was distinct from and unrelated to Lennon’s anti-immigration protest group.
What Lennon said his objections were
In statements made at the protest and to media, Lennon framed his objections as policy-based rather than personal. “The issue is not individual people, it is Canberra’s policy choices: special deals, symbolic precincts, and demographic engineering that put foreign relations ahead of Australian sovereignty and living standards,” he said.
He said mass immigration from India had added “pressure to the housing crisis, rents, congestion and infrastructure.” He also objected to plans for a Little India precinct in the Docklands area, saying: “The only way the Australian government has identified how to increase relations with India is by turning us into India.”
On the bilateral relationship, Lennon said: “India is a shaky ally at best. It preaches ‘strategic autonomy’, keeps deep defence and energy ties with Russia, and maintains a complex relationship with China. Yet Australia is expected to treat India as a key partner in the Indo-Pacific while we rapidly change our own demographics to make the relationship ‘work’.”
The context: Indians as Australia’s largest overseas-born group
Indians are now the largest overseas-born group in Australia. The Indian-born resident population reached approximately 971,000 as of 30 June 2025, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data, making it the largest foreign-born community in the country for the first time in Australia’s history. An estimated additional 200,971 people were born in Australia with Indian ancestry.
The growth in the Indian-born population has coincided with a period of sustained political debate about immigration levels in Australia. Lennon’s protest tapped into concerns about housing affordability, infrastructure pressure and migration volumes that have been raised across the political spectrum, including by mainstream parties, in the lead-up to and following the 2025 federal election.
What happened inside Marvel Stadium
While the protest took place outside, inside Marvel Stadium the Melbourne Meets Modi event proceeded as planned. Approximately 30,000 Indian-Australians attended what organisers described as the largest gathering of the Indian community at a single event in Australia’s history.
Modi addressed the crowd and described the Indian community in Australia as “an important pillar” of the bilateral relationship. Albanese attended alongside Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan. The event was sold out.
Modi later posted on X: “The weather in Melbourne may be cold, but the warmth of the welcome from the Indian community was truly unforgettable. Their affection and unwavering bond with India continue to be a source of immense joy and pride.”
The community response to Lennon’s hotel incident was one of anger and concern. Harpreet Srinivasan, a community leader quoted by local community newspapers, said every wave of immigrants in Australia had faced their own period of anti-immigration sentiment until they were accepted, and that Indians were now going through the same experience.
