Racial attacks on Indian students 'unacceptable': Brumby

New Delhi, Sep. 25 (ANI): The Australian Government went into damage control mode, with Victorian Premier John Brumby on Friday saying that attacks on Indian students were unfortunate.

Brumby, who is on a visit to India, told reporters after meeting NRI's Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi that relationships with the Indian community were valuable for his state and the recent racial attacks on Indian students were "unacceptable."

"Melbourne is a big city. We have had a small number of cases involving Indian students, and some cases where those crimes appear to be racially based. I have made it absolutely clear as the Premier of our state that any crime in our state that is racially-based is completely unacceptable to me, and to our state and to our people," he said.

Brumby added that the police force in Victoria has been given more powers and a bigger budget to contain attacks on Indians.

"The changes are made to what's called... Act and they provide that if in committing a crime there is any element of racial hatred then the penalty which a judge can apply for that crime will be more severe. The maximum penalty for that assault is, say, three years then if in the course of that assault the motivation for the person committing the assault was racial hatred then the penalty might be five years," said Brumy.

Bruby also said that the Australian government is taking measures to create a safe environment for overseas students. (ANI)