- Saturday, July 27, 2024
The agent reportedly apologised a few weeks later after allegedly criticising the Indian culture in her email to the former tenants but still faced the consequences.
By: Shubham Ghosh
A REAL-ESTATE agent in the western Australian city of Perth has been stripped of her license after she allegedly sent a racist email to tenants slamming Indian culture and living conditions in that country.
According to a report by The Australia Today, the Western Australia State Administrative Tribunal heard the accused sending the email to two former Indian tenants — named Mr Kumar and Ms Sharma — two years ago after a cleaning bond was taken out of their bond.
In her email, the agent allegedly compared the cleanliness of Australians with Indians after a dispute about the tenancy bond, Daily Mail reported.
The tenants, who had been staying in the home, vacated in December 2020. The agent, it was said, informed the tenants that the owner did not agree that the full bond should be released after carrying out a final inspection as per the rule in Australia.
Following talks over the full return of the bond money, the property agent allegedly sent the tenants in May 2021 an email in which she criticised Indian culture.
She allegedly wrote, “Our living standards, our quality of life and expectations are very different to the overcrowded, overpopulated, dirty squaller [sic] of many other countries including India. Therefore, it is impossible to have a discussion about what is clean and when I and most Australians have an expectation of what is clean and you are talking from what you are used to.”
She added, “I and most Australians have an expectation of what is clean and you are talking from what you are used to. There is no comparison, there cannot be any discussion as you are not used to our cultural way of living. I as a white Australian believe you and the others that come to Australia as you want to enjoy the lovely way of life we enjoy, clean, fresh air, jobs or if you cannot get a job social support, medical help and no overpopulation.”
“Hopefully the massive influx of Indian people will not turn our beautiful country into the filth that is India where bodies are on the street, half burnt bodies are in the river and people climb over each other for medical help. While living in absolute slums. It all starts with cleaning the rental properties though and being mindful of what you have left and knowing the same thing as India will become Perth if you make no attitude changes.
“And a white Australian has an expectation that they will move into a clean Australian standards clean not an Indian standard clean. Different if we moved to India then we would have to put up with the Indian standard.”
A few weeks later, the agent reportedly sent the same pair another mail in which she apologised saying she “never intended to be racist”, The West Australian reported.
“Firstly, I apologise if you believe I have been racist against you. That was never my intent,’ she wrote. I compared the ingoing property condition report and photos with how the property was handed back, the same as is done for every tenant.
“After vacating more than 6 months ago you have both been strongly vocal about the process. Each and every attempt to resolve the issues has been an argument until I realised that due to differing views which I tried to explain in my last email and are not racist, and never intended to be racist. [It was] just the result of differences in culture and different life experiences by each party meaning that the situation is seen through differing lenses.”
It was also reported that the agent agreed to receive training to ensure that a similar situation did not happen again.
The tribunal suspended her license for eight months following the dispute starting September 1, The Australia Today report added.
The Real Estate Institute of Western Australia has stressed that its member agents are expected to abide by the Real Estate and Business Agents and Sales Representatives Code of Conduct and the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 to safeguard people from discrimination, news.com.au reported.
