Sydney joins global Tesla Takedown protests
Activists in Sydney rallied outside a Tesla showroom in Alexandria on 11 April, joining global actions against far-right billionaire Elon Musk. The protest was part of “Tesla Takedown”, an international campaign opposing Musk’s role in Donald Trump’s authoritarian government.
As head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Musk has overseen thousands of layoffs of federal workers and the gutting of entire departments—particularly those that protect the environment and worker and consumer rights. He’s also used his takeover of Twitter to promote far-right hate online, performed Nazi salutes and thrown his weight behind the fascist Alternative for Germany party.
The Sydney protest hit a nerve. From the moment protesters unfurled a banner reading “Honk if you hate Elon”, support from the public was loud and constant. The showroom sits on a busy main road that connects to major motorways. For the entire hour we were there, cars driving home from work honked, waved and cheered.
Chants of “No Musk, no KKK, no fascist USA” echoed through peak-hour traffic. Placards read “Let them eat Tesla”, “Elon = Nazi”, “No space for fascists” and “The rat Musk go”.
One of the speakers, Matthew, a university lecturer who formerly lived in the US, called Musk “a megalomaniacal, power- and popularity-hungry, nepo-baby man-child who exploits his workers and pays almost no taxes to greedily hoard obscene wealth”.
The Tesla Takedown protests have spread rapidly in recent months. Organisers kicked them off with weekly demonstrations outside Tesla showrooms in the US and called for a Tesla boycott. According to National Public Radio in the US, more than 250 cities worldwide joined the day of action on 29 March. Rallies took place in all 50 US states—from smaller regional towns to major protests in New York City, where hundreds gathered outside Tesla’s Manhattan showroom, and San Francisco, where crowds filled both sides of Van Ness Avenue.
The backlash is hitting Musk financially. According to new outlet CNBC, the Tesla stock price sank 36 percent in the first three months of the year, wiping out post-election gains. Tesla has reported a 13 percent fall in car sales in the first quarter of 2025, its worst result in nearly three years.
It turns out many people don’t want to buy cars from a Nazi-saluting billionaire.
