Australia mulls tougher punishments for hate crime

In the backdrop of increased racial attacks on Indians, Australia is mulling tougher punishments for those indulging in such crimes, a move aimed at re-instilling confidence among foreign students outraged by the recent incidents of violence in the country.

Attorney General Rob Hulls is pushing for a plan where in judges will have to take into account "hatred for or prejudice against a particular group of people" as an aggravating factor when sentencing offenders.Tougher sentences will apply to the crimes deemed to be based on victims' race, religion, gender or sexual orientation," according to media reports in Melbourne.

Hulls said he hoped to have the new offence inserted into the state 'Sentencing Act' by the end of the year. Government ministers, who are distressed at the spate of assaults on Indians in Melbourne, were also considering a longer-term proposal to make "hate crime" a new statutory offence, The Age reported. The move comes after both Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Victorian Premier John Brumby reassured the Indian government, on Monday, that they were taking the issue seriously and that Victoria was still a safe place for Indians to live. Rudd said he had told Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last Friday that Australia was working closely with the states to ensure attackers were brought to justice and that Indian students were being protected.

Rudd said he told his Indian counterpart that the 90,000-plus Indian students in Australia were welcome guests. The two sides are worried about the effect of the violence on their relationship. The concern has reinforced intentions for Rudd to visit India as soon as he can. Rudd told Parliament yesterday that the attacks on Indians in Melbourne were part of wider urban violence. "I speak on behalf of all Australians when I say that we deplore and condemn these attacks." Opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull said there was potential for "great damage to the reputation of Australia as a destination of choice not just for students from India but from every country".

Brumby said the racial attacks had been "completely repugnant and unacceptable". But, he said Victoria would still be among the "very, very safest" destinations to go to study. Hulls' spokeswoman, Meaghan Shaw, was quoted by The Age as saying that the Government was looking at "a range of reforms that send a clear message" that hate-based attacks will not be tolerated. The Indian community and business organisations, meanwhile, called upon authorities to do more. Australia India Business Council said the country's reputation as a safe place was being tarnished. Victoria Police officials met members of the Federation of Indian Students of Australia, on Monday, that said options discussed included a multicultural police force, a racial tolerance ad campaign and more police at Railway stations.

The Attorney General said, "...what we are looking at is amending section 5 of the Sentencing Act." Hull, who was responding to a query on Radio channel, said the act that was already in existence in other states including New South Wales was now being looked for Victoria. The Attorney General said he expected that such a reform will send strong message to the Victorian community, Australian community and people in India that crime like these will not be tolerated.

"All Victorians are entitled to feel safe in their community," he said, adding "our society certainly condemns any sort of violence...no Victorian, in my view, should be attacked on the basis of their gender, race or religion so in the amending the sentencing act in a way I think its sends a message not only to judiciary but also to the community. He insisted that any sort of violence based on such issues will not be tolerated. "We believe that it is appropriate to look at changing or adding another aspect in the sentencing act to ensure that particular aspect is taken into account," he said. Stating an example that in case of an attack on a child or a female there could be higher penalty under an aggravate circumstance that would be taken into account, Hulls said "this (in case of hate crime) would be another matter that will be taken into account by the sentencing Judge in imposing an appropriate sentence." He further said: "we appall crime whenever and wherever it occurs."