Teresa Gambaro, herself the daughter of migrant parents, was forced to retract her comments despite alleging they were taken out of context.
SBS spoke to a few people to see what they thought of the comments.
Indian born taxi driver Aman Singh is meticulous about his hygiene and the condition of his cab.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
In many cases, he says, issues of cleanliness lie squarely with his late-night clients.
"They are not even clean properly. They don't even have proper shower and you can see and when they get out of the cab you ... have to use air freshener to clean the cab," he told SBS.
Watch the story on YouTube (not available on apps yet, sorry!)
The govenment says it provides appropriate settlement assistance, offering courses specific to Australian culture including language, banking, social integration, values and social taboos.
Migration agent Henry Qian has clients from 28-different nationalities and doesn't believe hygiene issues are culturally specific.
"She would be better off to adopt a more cautious and senstitive approach rather than generalising," he says.
Ms Gambaro has since retracted her comments saying they were taken out of context, are inappropriate and don't reflect coalition policy. She also regrets any offence that may have been taken and unreservedly apologised.
