Abbott is playing race card: Greens

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has been accused of playing the race card on the eve
of Australia Day.
In a controversial speech delivered on Friday, Mr Abbott suggested that recent
migrants resisted Australian notions of equality.
He also said Australian citizenship was being given away too lightly.
Mr Abbott did not mention specific ethnic or religious groups by name but Australian
Greens immigration spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young said the opposition leader had
made "broad, sweeping statements" targetting certain people.
"Let's call this for what it is - Tony Abbott has blatantly played the race card in
time for Australia Day," Senator Hanson-Young told AAP on Saturday in a statement.
"The people who are clearly driving feelings of anxiety in this country are Tony
Abbott and the Liberal Party who for the sake of cheap political points are whipping
up fear of asylum seekers, refugees and people seeking a new life in Australia."
Mr Abbott was using the same tactics as former prime minister John Howard and his
immigration minister Philip Ruddock, Senator Hanson-Young said.
She called on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to resist engaging in a race debate.
"The challenge for the prime minister is now not to allow this poisonous speech to
drag him and his government down into another fear-driven debate," she said.
"We need some leadership from the prime minister, leadership that does not involve
playing to the public's basest fears and feeding false negative stereotypes of
people from other parts of the world."
The office of Immigration Minister Chris Evans did not return AAP's calls.