Melbourne:
In the wake of recent attacks on three Indians, the Victorian government has said it will provide more resources and powers to its police forces to fight racially motivated crimes.
"We'll give police more powers and give police more resources to make sure we get the message out clearly in the community. Anybody who undertakes acts of racism or violence in Victoria will feel the full force of the law," Victorian premier John Brumby said.
Brumby, who would visit India next week, insisted that Victoria was still the safest place in Australia "in terms of our crime rate". "I want to get the message out there that we welcome the Indian community...(and) reassure the Indian community that Victoria's a great place to be and a great place to study," he was today quoted by the local media as saying.
The local media, however, said Brumby's visit would be a challenging one after the recent assault and lashed out at the police for being too late in putting out a statement for witnesses to the attack.
A report in The Age said the Victorian police did not put out a statement calling for witnesses to the attack until Wednesday morning - more than three days after it occurred and a day after it had already been reported in India.
Police, however, denied any such attempt with Acting Senior Sergeant Glenn Parker saying, "Unfortunately, within the community, these types of incidents happen regularly and this is really treated no differently, so there's been no deliberate attempt to suppress it."
"We'll give police more powers and give police more resources to make sure we get the message out clearly in the community. Anybody who undertakes acts of racism or violence in Victoria will feel the full force of the law," Victorian premier John Brumby said.
Brumby, who would visit India next week, insisted that Victoria was still the safest place in Australia "in terms of our crime rate". "I want to get the message out there that we welcome the Indian community...(and) reassure the Indian community that Victoria's a great place to be and a great place to study," he was today quoted by the local media as saying.
The local media, however, said Brumby's visit would be a challenging one after the recent assault and lashed out at the police for being too late in putting out a statement for witnesses to the attack.
A report in The Age said the Victorian police did not put out a statement calling for witnesses to the attack until Wednesday morning - more than three days after it occurred and a day after it had already been reported in India.
Police, however, denied any such attempt with Acting Senior Sergeant Glenn Parker saying, "Unfortunately, within the community, these types of incidents happen regularly and this is really treated no differently, so there's been no deliberate attempt to suppress it."
