Premier Jacinta Allan has welcomed the prospect of a visit to Victoria by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, telling multicultural media that he would receive “an incredibly warm welcome” in a state that is home to the country’s largest Indian diaspora.
Speaking on Wednesday at a round of questions with multicultural outlets, the Premier said the government would “really welcome the opportunity to host Prime Minister Modi here in Melbourne and Victoria,” but stopped short of confirming dates or an itinerary.
“We are working through arrangements, and I will allow official channels to communicate arrangements as they are confirmed,” she said.
Allan pointed to the Victoria India Strategy, released during her own visit to India around a year ago, as the foundation for the relationship, citing a shared commitment to “education, to sport, to culture, to the creative industries.” Asked about trade, she said Victoria was well placed to leverage the federal free trade agreement struck with India, noting the “strong relationship” between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Modi, and her own meeting with India’s sports minister during her visit.
Pressed on whether a Modi visit might be timed to court diaspora voters ahead of elections, the Premier deflected. “I’m fairly confident that PM Modi sets his own travel schedule,” she said, describing him as a leader who travels globally on the international stage. On reports of a planned diaspora event in Docklands, and of opposition to it, she said she was “not in a position today to confirm any discussions or details,” with some arrangements still being worked through.
A pledge on the age pension
The Premier used the forum to sharpen Labor’s attack on the Liberals, releasing a statement headed “Liberals to cut aged pension from long-time migrants” alongside her remarks.
The statement says federal Liberal leader Angus Taylor would cut off long-time permanent residents from the aged pension, describing them as people who “worked, paid taxes and raised families here.” It argues the policy would not touch tourists or temporary visa holders, who are ineligible in any case, but would instead target older Australians from multicultural communities. Many long-term residents do not take up citizenship, the statement notes, because doing so can mean losing their original passport and their rights and connections to the country of their birth.
Allan framed the proposal as part of a broader pattern. The plan, she said, was “not only unnecessary and disrespectful,” but “a direct attack on people who worked hard, paid taxes” and contributed to the community. Her statement linked the federal proposal to the Victorian opposition, naming state Liberal leader Jess Wilson and her plan to cut $40 billion from public services “that seniors rely on,” and accusing the Liberals of “cosying up to One Nation.”
“In my Labor government, we will not only fight back against these proposals, we will stand with multicultural and multifaith communities,” the Premier said.
One Nation and the Liberals
Allan reserved her strongest language for One Nation, which she said was “all about dividing communities,” offering “no solutions” to Victorians or Australians “other than division” and “frankly, hatred.”
She argued the party acted as “an economic handbrake” by signalling that Victoria was unwelcoming, undermining a diversity she described as the state’s economic “superpower.” Her central charge, however, was aimed at the Liberals: pointing to recent by-election results, she said the party “cannot govern without One Nation preferences,” a reliance she called “deeply troubling” ahead of the November state poll.
Lekakis Review and media advertising
Asked where the government had landed on the multicultural review led by George Lekakis, which she had previously committed to steward personally, the Premier said legislation to modernise the Multicultural Victoria Act would come to parliament “in the next couple of months.”
She said she had already acted on a key recommendation by creating a Minister for Multicultural and Multifaith Victoria in her recent reshuffle, with the Victorian Multicultural Commission still operating as the government moves towards the new structure the review recommended.
On support for multicultural media, Allan said outlets played an “incredibly important” role in providing trusted news at a time of growing misinformation and AI-generated content, when “a lie can travel around the world” before the truth catches up. She pointed to existing dedicated arrangements for multicultural media within the government’s advertising spend, and said discussions about continuing that support would carry on through the year.
Pressure on rents
On cost of living, the Premier acknowledged that steep rent rises were among the biggest pressures on households, alongside mortgages, groceries and energy bills. She attributed rising rents to a shortage of supply and pointed to a building program in response.
Allan said the government had made about 130 changes to rental rules to make the system fairer, including limiting rent increases to once a year and enabling longer-term tenancies. She also cited the $6.3 billion Big Housing Build in social, public and affordable housing, saying roughly 10,000 homes were under construction or complete, while noting she would confirm exact figures.
The November state election looms over much of the exchange, with Allan repeatedly drawing contrasts between Labor’s record on services and the Liberals’ proposed $40 billion in cuts.
