Shadow Minister for Multicultural and Multifaith Affairs Evan Mulholland has condemned the Victorian Multicultural Commission (VMC) for publishing a decapitated and distorted map of India in its Annual Report 2024–25, calling it “a profound insult to every Indian-Australian in this state.”
“The VMC shows a stunning and offensive lack of cultural awareness,” Mulholland said in a statement.
He added, “How could a government body entrusted with inclusion erase parts of India from an official state document? This is the direct consequence of the Labor Government gutting and starving the VMC of resources. When you treat a vital body like the VMC as a political afterthought, you get this kind of reckless incompetence.”
“Jacinta Allan must immediately apologise to the Indian-Australian community for this inexcusable failure.”
The issue surfaced when community members posted a screenshot from page 13 of the report, noting that major Indian regions — including Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, and parts of the north-east such as Sikkim, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh — were missing or misrepresented.
“This is shocking. Is this how multicultural respect works in Victoria?” one community member asked, while others described the error as “deeply disturbing and disappointing.”
A VMC spokesperson told The Australia Today that the commission had removed the image from the online version and informed the original correspondent of the changes, but no formal apology has been issued.
The Consulate General of India in Melbourne has also raised the issue with Premier Jacinta Allan’s office, demanding “immediate correction and apology by the concerned authorities.”
The controversy has sparked questions about the VMC’s internal review processes, particularly whether cultural and geopolitical checks were performed before publication.
The report itself highlights Victoria’s diverse population, with residents from over 300 ancestries, speaking more than 290 languages, and following over 200 faiths.
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