Australian PM Abbott condems racist tirade against train guard

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has condemned a young man's racist attack on a security guard on a train in Brisbane.

The incident, which occurred on Oct 2, was captured on video and posted on Facebook on Saturday (Oct 11), where it has gotten over 1 million views

In the video, the young man can be heard telling the security guard to "learn some f***ing English, because this is Australia", due to the guard's heavy accent.

The outburst began after the guard had asked the man, who appeared to be drunk, to take his feet off his seat. He then continued to hurl racial slurs, and even challenged the guard to a fight.

Other passengers on the train can be seen looking on in disgust, and two men stood up to demand that the man get off the train.

"I think it's un-Australian to abuse someone in a public place just because you don't like the way they look, or you don't like the way they dress, or you make assumptions about what they believe," Mr Abbott said, according to news website abc.net.au.

Brisbane's Courier-Mail also reports that Queensland premier Campbell Newman has promised to take action against the young man behind the racist tirade, and that the government would "look at whatever we can do to go after this individual".

According to abc.net.au, the Facebook page purportedly of the alleged offender posted an apology for the incident on Oct 11.

However, another post on the same page just hours earlier had read "I was just drunk couldn't remember s*** so stop over reacting, but I am proud to be white!"

The Australian reports that two men, aged 17 and 18, were questioned by police and have been charged over the incident.

seanyap@sph.com.sg