Australian opposition leader slams junket for Indian press

Australia's opposition leader Tony Abbott has lashed out at the government's plan to spend A$250,000 (Rs1 crore) to bring 25 Indian journalists on a junket to Melbourne and Sydney over the spate of attacks on Indian students and expatriates, saying the money should be spent on better policing of the streets.

"Our streets aren't safe, particularly the streets of Melbourne, which appear to be pretty seriously under-policed,'' Abbott told Fairfax Radio Network. "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."

Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has confirmed that about $10,000 (Rs4.15 lakh) would be spent on each of the 25 Indian reporters for flights and five-star accommodation.

During their visit, the team of reporters will be treated to a tour the Melbourne Cricket Ground and concerts of Indian pop icon A R Rahman scheduled to be held in Sydney and Melbourne. "I think it would be much better spending the money on better policing of our streets because that's the basic problem," Abbott said.

Unlike more socially responsible countries, sponsored travel and other freebies are tacitly considered as perks for senior journalists by Indian editors and media managers. Clearly DFAT is aware of this, and expecting a more favourable press for its buck.

Spokesman of the Federation of Indian Students in Australia Gautum Gupta told the Herald Sun newspaper that the visit was ''just a marketing junket paid for by the taxpayer'', tightly scheduled and designed to gloss over problems.