Australia isn`t racist: Rudd tells India

Canberra is battling to reassure New Delhi that Australians aren't racist, fearful
the outcry over attacks on Indian students may harm relations and stop the flow of
lucrative education dollars.
New Delhi has raised its concerns about assaults on its students for more than a
year, and is now warning it could jeopardise the numbers of Indians studying in
Australia, worth $2 billion a year.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Monday warned the attacks threatened to "impair" good
relations with India, a valuable potential market for Australia with a growing
middle class.
The issue threatens to erupt further after claims police were heavy-handed when
breaking up an Indian protest rally that blocked a major Melbourne city intersection
overnight.
Police believe that while some of the attacks may be racially-motivated, it is more
likely part of a broader issue of escalating street violence.
During a conversation with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Mr Rudd told him
Australia was a tolerant and embracing society.
"(I told him) the more than 90,000 Indian students in Australia are welcome guests
in our country ... the more than 200,000 Australians of Indian descent are welcome
members of the Australian family," he said.
"All Australians ... deplore and condemn these attacks. These are senseless acts of
violence.
"Australia is a country of great diversity, harmony and tolerance. We are a
multicultural nation and we respect and embrace diversity."
The assaults are attracting international headlines after Australia's Indian
community began voicing outrage following the recent screwdriver stabbing of Sravan
Kumar Theerthala, 25, in Melbourne.
According to Victorian police, 1,447 people of Indian origin were victims of crimes
such as robberies and assaults in 2007/08, up from 1,082 the previous year.
Ajay Unni, a Sydney representative from the Federation of Indian Students of
Australia, says Australia is only now interested because there is a threat of losing
money.
"The main headlines always start with saying Australia is probably going to lose its
multi-billion dollar industry," he told AAP.
"I don't really know where Kevin Rudd is coming from - is he coming from the space
of losing revenue or is he really concerned."
Mr Unni said he had personally spoken to between 15 and 20 students who'd been
attacked over the last few years.
He urged police to keep records of international student assaults.
"From a security standpoint the police department really has to beef up their
multicultural staff and their completion process of every case that comes to them,"
Mr Unni said.
Some students had complained they'd tried to contact police many times but officers
had not got back to them.
Trade Minister Simon Crean told reporters Indian officials were raising the issue
with Canberra from early last year, prompting the federal government to write to the
states.
He admits it could damage the education export sector.
"This is a safe place in which to live and work, it's part of the brand that
Australia wants to promote more of, and we have to protect that brand," Mr Crean
said.
"It could be damaging ... there's no point sending your loved ones here to study if
they feel under threat."
The Rudd government moved last week to set up a roundtable to address issues
affecting overseas students in Australia, a $15.5 billion service export industry.
And the Australian Greens are calling for an inquiry into overseas education in
Australia, which it will try to set up when the Senate resumes later this month.