Anti-immigration protesters in Australia supposedly seen at Chinese restaurant for dim sum lunch

A photo supposedly depicting protesters in Australia eating yum cha after attending anti-immigration rallies has gone viral on Reddit.

The caption of the photo read "seen in Sydney CBD soon after the anti-immigration rally".

Comments in the Reddit thread implied that the supposed protesters were being hypocritical, as they were enjoying a succulent Chinese meal at a restaurant even though that would not have been possible without immigration.

One user commented: "When you got Yum Cha Sunday special dim sum lunch at 1 but anti immigration rally at 2."

Another said: "Hypocrisy, Australia 2025."

Other comments joked that the supposed protesters were at the restaurant to have dumplings and that they "loved" Chinese food.

Protests

The people in the photo were speculated to be some of the many Australians who took part in anti-immigration rallies on Aug. 31, according to Reuters.

The report added that the centre-left government condemned the rallies for seeking to spread hate and being linked to neo-Nazis.

March for Australia's website listed times and locations for various rallies held across the country.

"Our Future, Our Fight – Australia’s Future Is in Our Hands" could be seen on the website's "about" page.

A description on the same page read:

"For years, Australia’s unity and shared values have been eroded by policies and movements that divide us.

Our streets have seen growing displays of anti-Australian hatred, foreign conflicts, and disintegrating trust, whilst mass migration has torn at the bonds that held our communities together.

This march is a stand for the people, culture, and nation that built Australia - and for our right to decide its future."

According to coverage of the rallies by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), the protests saw three people arrested in Adelaide, a woman arrested in Sydney and at least one person arrested in Melbourne's central business district. 

ABC also reported that independent MP Bob Katter, who supports the rallies, said on Aug. 31: "On that subject, when someone started trying to divide us up into where you came from, I got very mad and a lot of people criticised me.

"But when I got off the aeroplane today everyone was cheering and clapping and waiving their flags."

Katter was referencing the incident where he threatened Channel Nine journalist Josh Bavas for asking him about his Lebanese heritage.

Katter's grandfather was a naturalised immigrant from Lebanon.

Anti-immigration

Katter is among politicians who are split in their opinions of the rallies.

According to ABC, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said "good people" were attending anti-immigration rallies over the weekend.

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price who has been described by ABC as a "Liberal frontbencher" fully supports the anti-immigration March for Australia.

On top of the differences in opinions over the protests, concerns have been raised over the dangers it may represent.

The New York Times (NYT) quoted Paul Scarr, an opposition senator and spokesman for immigration issues, who said: "When we see neo-Nazis address a crowd of people in some of our major cities, that raises material concerns with respect to social cohesion in our country."

NYT added that Kaz Ross, a researcher who studies far-right extremism, said while the protests appeared to have been started by a disparate group of online influencers, far-right elements managed to influence the protests.

Ross added that far-right groups had capitalised on mainstream concerns about the soaring cost of living and housing scarcity to stir up anti-immigrant sentiment.

She added that the protests marked a significant moment for the far-right in making inroads into the mainstream.

Ross said: "They’ve successfully — it looks to me — met up in public with thousands of Australians. No one threw them out. No one booed them out of the rally. They had a crossover success moment.

"It is very very concerning and we don’t know where it’s going to go from here."

Protesting mass migration

On the other hand, some protesters said the protests were not against "immigration per se", but against the recent large rise in numbers that hit record levels, The Daily Mail reported.

One supporter wrote: "No one was protesting immigrants. We were protesting the levels of immigration. Almost everyone there would be perfectly happy with 1990s levels of migration, as long as it's targeted to high-quality immigrants the country actually needs."

Another added: "Anti-immigration doesn't mean anti-immigrant. My cousin is from Taiwan and hates how much mass migration is happening right now."

According to numbers by ABC, some 15,000 people took part in the Adelaide demonstrations which included the March for Australia rally and a counter-rally.

ABC put the numbers for Sydney's rally at 5,000 to 8,000.

Top photos via Reddit