Cessnock, a suburb of Newcastle, saw a wave of racist stickers in late August, each bearing a crude image of an Indian man and slogans like ‘Remigration now’ and ‘Is this your culture? We don’t like it!’. The stickers also cited a statistic that 32% of Australia’s population is foreign‑born, naming India as the top source.
Federal MP David Repacholi called the stickers ‘disgusting’, saying racism had no place in the Hunter Region. He warned that the campaign could spread hate and urged residents to report the stickers’ locations.
Similar stickers were found on Indian grocers in Brisbane and on grocery items in July, and anti‑Indian leaflets were distributed in Kurri Kurri that same month.
Local councils have pledged to remove the stickers promptly, while community groups are organizing clean‑up drives to restore public spaces.
Repacholi will brief the Hunter Regional Council on enforcement measures, and a hotline has been set up for residents to submit photos of the offending stickers.