Washington, May 26 (ANI): Sol Trujillo, former boss of telecommunications company Telstra, has said that being in Australia was like "stepping back in time" as it was a racist country.

According to a report in The Daily Telegraph, after a four-year stint as Telstra CEO which earnt him about 31 million dollars, Trujillo has been quick to pour scorn on the Rudd Government since leaving Australia 10 days ago.

In a BBC interview, he claimed that Rudd was a racist after the Prime Minister greeted news of Trujillos' departure with the word 'Adios'. "I think by definition (it was racism) - there were even columnists who wrote stories that said it was," Trujillo told the BBC. Trujillo said many Australians had apologized to him over Rudd's racist jibe, and that racism was a real problem in Australia. "It does exist and it's got to change because the world is full of a lot of people and most economies have to take advantage - including Australia - of a diverse set of people," he said. "If there is a belief that only a certain people are acceptable versus others, that is a sad state," he added.

A spokeswoman for Rudd said that the Prime Minister considered Trujillo's statements as ridiculous comments, which will disappoint Australians who welcomed him to the country. (ANI)