Australia ‘disgusted’ over attacks on Indians

January 21, 2010 09:38 am | Updated December 15, 2016 11:05 pm IST - Melbourne

Without making an excuse for recent spate of violence against Indians, Australia has said that the feedback received from the half a million strong Indian student community has been “positive.”

Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard was quoted by an AAP report that despite the recent spate of violence, generally the feedback received from the nearly half a million Indian students was positive towards the country, but that did not excuse the incidents.

She acknowledged that parents whose children are studying in Australia must be worried about their children.

“We’re absolutely disgusted with some of the violent incidents we’ve seen involving Indian students,” she said adding “There have clearly been policing problems and the Victorian and NSW police particularly have been responding.

“She said the government was working with the police and various education outlets to educate students before they come to Australia and to ensure there is regulation of the outlets that send students to the country.

She was speaking in Adelaide where Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd hosted an event on Wednesday evening that attracted about 500 people to the Norwood Morialta High School.

The report said that her comments followed after one of the crowd members was the former president of the Indian Association in South Australia, who raised a query of what the country would do to stop the growing problem of violence against Indian students.

Another member of the audience, who had migrated from Italy in 1956, asked why international students were not guaranteed work and residency — and only study.

Immigration Minster Chris Evans said while the international education system was very important in Australia, migrants were chosen based on Australia’s needs and what would help the economy.

“When students study in Australia they do not have an automatic right to stay,” Senator Evans told the audience.

“We bring in doctors and nurses — not hairdressers.

“Meanwhile, ABC today reported that a Indian taxi driver who was stabbed during a robbery in West Brunswick last month have said that he does not believe the attack was racially motivated.

The 23-year-old Ravinder Singh was stabbed in the chest while parking his cab in Collier Street.

Singh suffered a punctured lung and was in a critical condition in hospital for two weeks.

“Everyone, these robbery people, know that the taxi people carry some money with them,” Singh said adding “In my case I don’t think it’s racist, just a road rage incident.”

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