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Thursday March 18, 2010

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Ted Baillieu enters the racial debate

Posted by: 3AW and The Age | 9 February, 2010 - 10:06 AM


ABOVE: State Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu with Neil Mitchell.

REPORT: Victoria has a serious and increasing problem with racist attacks on Indian students, but the state government is in denial and blaming the victims, Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu said last night.

In a provocative speech to Australian and Indian business leaders, Mr Baillieu said many of the assaults were the result of ''racist violence'' and Premier John Brumby had failed to confront the problem.

Mr Baillieu also took aim at police Chief Commissioner Simon Overland, condemning his weekend advice to international students that they should ''look poor'' by not displaying expensive items such as laptops and iPods.

Mr Baillieu said the problem of racial violence had been allowed to escalate while the government provided excuses, attracting international condemnation.

''Leadership is not … this government's continued attempt to blame the victim by suggesting he or she had brought it upon themselves through their conduct or the provocative carrying of iPods, computers and other such nonsense,'' he said.

His attack follows a stinging rebuke from Indian high commissioner Sujatha Singh, who told Governor-General Quentin Bryce Victoria was ''in denial'' over the problem.

The Premier hit back, with his spokeswoman saying Mr Baillieu should know better than to use divisive and inflammatory comments that he knows are not true. ''Mr Baillieu's deceptive treatment of this issue makes things worse not better,'' spokeswoman Fiona Macrae said.

Mr Brumby had condemned racist attacks in the strongest possible words for some time, she said, with government measures such as more police, stronger police powers and a focus on high-crime areas already producing results.

The Opposition Leader's speech comes after a recent escalation in the international dispute over Victoria's response to the assaults and coverage of the attacks in the Indian media.

The Premier has accused the Indian media and some government officials of giving unbalanced versions of the assaults. Mr Brumby has also requested a meeting with Mrs Singh following revelations in The Age of her meeting with Ms Bryce.

In his speech to the Australia India Business Council, Mr Baillieu said Victoria did not have a racist society but ''a minority of individuals whose racist behaviour is creating fear and terror for many who live in our community''.

Having met many attack victims, he did not accept the government's argument that there was no particular targeting of Indians beyond statistical expectations. ''There are some who say these are not racial attacks. To those people let me say this: … In the course of those assaults they were racially abused,'' he said.

Last week Mr Brumby said Indian students were underrepresented in the assault figures in terms of population share, saying the attacks were a statistical, not a social phenomenon.

''If there are acts of violence, particularly if any violence is racially motivated, I have condemned it in the strongest possible terms,'' he said at the time.

The Premier's criticism of the Indian media came after police charged an Indian man who had allegedly set himself alight as part of a false insurance claim, and news that an Indian couple had been charged with the murder of an Indian man in NSW. Both cases were widely reported in India and internationally as being racist attacks.

The government and police have said Mr Overland's comments about acting poor were taken out of context.

Brumby hits back over racism calls

A Spooner illustration drawn when Brumby was in India As India's top envoy to Australia reportedly hits out at Victoria as being a state 'in denial', Premier John Brumby joins Neil Mitchell to send a strong message to the Indian media. Read and hear more.

Blog comments Your Say

  • yep go for it ted the toff, you have just made it worse and you used the indians students as a political point score, well you have lost me and any respect that you tried to earn, so ted bellyache stop putting victoria down instead of trying obstructionism and use policy instead of fear and smear you might get somewhere.,

    Kerry Wednesday 10 February, 2010 - 10:59 PM

  • Hey Col. Perhaps you should try to learn correct grammar before you post your poor attempt of a smart comment. No doubt a labour voter.

    Scott Tuesday 9 February, 2010 - 9:15 PM

  • Victoria has a Opposition Leader ? ?

    col Tuesday 9 February, 2010 - 8:24 PM

  • Overland and Mrs Doubtfire refused to use the gang word, say no more

    Mark Tuesday 9 February, 2010 - 11:31 AM

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