Father of Thomas Kelly urges Tony Abbott to rethink his attitude after comment on crime victims Victim: Thomas Kelly was attacked in Kings Cross. The father of slain Sydney teenager Thomas Kelly has urged Tony Abbott to tackle drunken violence after the prospective prime minister appeared to suggest victims of crime had brought trouble on themselves. Ralph Kelly made the comments after the federal Opposition Leader, out on the campaign trail on Tuesday morning, indicated that some victims of crime should not have been in areas such as Sydney's Kings Cross in the early hours of the morning. In response to a question about victims of the Bali bombings, Mr Abbott said: "If you are walking down the street at 2am in Kings Cross in Sydney and you get king hit, maybe you shouldn't be there. Maybe it was an unwise place to be, an unwise thing to do. But if you do get king hit and you are badly damaged, you are helped by the New South Wales victims of crime legislation and I think that the Australian victims of overseas terrorism should get similar help. On Monday, Mr Abbott said that in the first 100 days of a Coalition government, he would ensure all Australian victims of terrorism overseas, past and future, would be eligible for victims-of-crime compensation of up to $75,000 each. Mr Kelly told Fairfax Media that Mr Abbott's comments were clumsy, but nonetheless upsetting and "offensive" to the 30,000 innocent people who were entitled to enjoy themselves by going to Sydney nightspots like Kings Cross each Friday and Saturday night. He went on to say that perhaps by even mentioning the notorious red light district, Mr Abbott was acknowledging there is a problem that needed to be remedied. "I just think that if he's talking about it, it's clear there's an issue, and he should acknowledge it by pledging to help clean up Sydney's streets if he is elected prime minister," Mr Kelly said. And it's not just Sydney's streets - it's Byron Bay, Parramatta, Darlinghurst - what is he going to do to fix it exactly? People are meant to be able to walk down the streets safely at night, and it's offensive to suggest anything else. Mr Kelly will next month help formally launch the Thomas Kelly Youth Foundation, which is lobbying government and other key decision makers about how to best ensure the nation's streets are safer. His eldest son, Thomas, was killed by a single "king hit" to the head in July last year. The 18-year-old had just alighted a taxi and was walking down Victoria Road in Kings Cross on the way to a party with a female friend when he was struck by a single blow to the head. Another teenager, Kieran Loveridge, has pleaded guilty to Thomas' manslaughter. Comment was being sought from Mr Abbott. NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell said he agreed with both Mr Abbott and Mr Kelly. "The reality is across this city, across this state there is too much violence," Mr O'Farrell told Sky News on Tuesday afternoon. Asked whether it was appropriate for Mr Abbott to say that a person should not be walking the streets of Kings Cross, the Premier replied: "I don't think any part of NSW should be a no-go a zone." But Mr O'Farrell added that he was not "naive enough to believe that there aren't parts of this city and parts of this state where people do feel unsafe." The Premier had "sought to move heaven and earth" to make Kings Cross a safer place since the death of Thomas Kelly.