Aus opposition leader criticises money spent on Indian journos

Melbourne, Feb 23 (PTI) In the backdrop of attacks
on Indians that led to a debate on how safe Melbourne streets
are, Australian Opposition Leader Tony Abbott today lashed out
state government for spending money on 25 Indian journalists'
visit to the country what is seen as a public relation
exercise to rebuild the state's dented reputation.
According to 'Herald Sun', Abbott said the money
would be better spent preventing the bashings which have given
Australia its "PR problem".
"I think it would be much better spending the money
on better policing of our streets because that's the basic
problem," Abbott said adding "Our streets aren't safe,
particularly the streets of Melbourne, which appear to have
been pretty seriously under-policed.
If you didn't have these racially motivated bashings
in unsafe streets we wouldn't have the PR problem, so let's go
to the heart of the matter."
According to the newspaper, Department of Foreign
Affairs and Trade was spending 250,000 (AUS) dollars on
flights and five-star accommodation for the visting
journalists.
A DFAT spokeswoman confirmed that about USD 10,000
would be spent on each of the 25 Indian reporters. PTI NC
AHM