Press Trust Of India / Melbourne Sep 04, 2009, 01:13 IST
Thousands of foreign students, including Indians and Chinese, have marched in Sydney and Melbourne seeking more measures from the Australian government on their safety, accommodation and travel concessions.
The protests were held on Wednesday in two states — New South Wales and Victoria — as they are the only states denying international students concession fares on public transport. About 400 protesters marched through central Sydney to rally outside Parliament and in Melbourne over hundreds rallied to Parliament.
The protests coincides with a visit to India by the Education Minister Julia Gillard and the first public hearings of the Senate enquiry into international student welfare.
National Union of Students’ president David Barrow was quoted by local media as saying that the federal and state governments had taken some steps to address the students’ welfare issues but more needed to be done. “After a decade of neglect, local and international students rally together to demand justice,” he said.
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