| 2005 Cronulla riots | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 NSW Police observing crowds prior to confrontation. | ||||
| Date | 11–12 December 2005 | |||
| Location | Cronulla (spreading toMaroubra,Punchbowl,Lakemba,Arncliffe andBrighton-Le-Sands) inSydney,New South Wales,Australia | |||
| Caused by | Racism,Islamophobia,Anti-arabism | |||
| Methods | Race riot,assault,[1]vandalism,arson,[2] violence | |||
| Resulted in | Riots quelled | |||
| Parties | ||||
| Casualties | ||||
| Arrested | 104 (285 charges laid) | |||
TheCronulla riots were a series ofrace riots inSydney, Australia. They began in the beachside suburb ofCronulla on 11 December 2005, and over the following nights spread to additional suburbs. The instigating event was a physical altercation on 4 December between a group of youths ofMiddle Eastern appearance andlifeguards at Cronulla beach. Following reporting by thetabloid media andshock jocks on local radio, a racially motivated gathering was organised viachaintexting.
On the morning of Sunday, 11 December, a crowd gathered at Cronulla. By midday, approximately 5,000 people had gathered near the beach. As the gathering began attacking members of ethnic minorities, the police attempted to intervene. Violence spread to neighbouring suburbs, where assaults occurred, including attacks on ambulances and police officers and two stabbings.Travel warnings for Australia were briefly issued by some countries.
The riots were widely condemned by members of parliament, police, and local community leaders and residents. A large police effort over subsequent months produced many arrests. Some media were criticised, and well-knownradio personalityAlan Jones was formally censured and fined for his broadcasts during the week.
New South Wales Police had been recordingracial andethnic tensions and incidents in and around Cronulla since October 2005.[4] There is also a history of conflict between Cronulla locals and visiting beachgoers from thewestern suburbs ("Westies") with "bashings" (physical assault) common since the 1960s as part of aturf war between Westies and local surfers.[5][6] There remains a great deal of debate as to whether previous racially charged attacks in the area like theSydney gang rapes contributed to the tensions, or if the subsequent trials were used as justification for the attacks, despite many reporting otherwise.[7] The previous summer onAustralia Day (26 January 2005), a non-racial riot occurred with around 2,000 to 3,000 young people in the Cronulla area engaged in "civil disobedience", at one stage hurlingmissiles at police attempting to control the crowd.[4]
Just after 15:00 on Sunday, 4 December 2005, police were called toNorth Cronulla Beach following a report of an assault on two off-dutysurf lifesavers by four members of a group of eight men.[4][8] A verbal exchange had taken place after three lifesavers approached a group of four young Australian men with a Lebanese background onCronulla Beach, with both groups accusing the other of staring at them. One of the Australian Lebanese men reportedly responded to the accusations, "I'm allowed to; now fuck off and leave our beach", to which a lifesaver responded, "I come down here out of my own spare time to save youcunts from drowning".[9]
The verbal exchange escalated with one Australian Lebanese youth attempting to defuse the situation. Another then threw a punch, missing, prompting a pushing match that escalated into a fight. One of the lifesavers was badly hurt after falling and striking his head.[4] One of the lifesavers later informed police that the four were part of a group of eight Australian Lebanese that had been on the beach most of the day and that there had been no problems with their prior behaviour. Despite media reports to the contrary, no Middle Eastern men converged on the area and there were no more than the original eight present.[9][10]
What kind ofgrubs? Well I'll tell you what kind of grubs this lot were. This lot were Middle Eastern grubs.
— Alan Jones, 5 December 2005, on2GB radio[11]
One media report stated that there was already tension between the community and Australian Lebanese youths before this event and people, particularly women, claimed to have been harassed, almost daily, by "groups of young Lebanese men" attempting to "pick them up" and describing the women as being "Aussiesluts".[12]
The events were reported widely across theSydney media, particularlytabloid; also generating discussions ontalkback radio.[13] When a listener identified as "Berta" commented to shock jockAlan Jones of Sydney's2GB Radio that she had heard "really derogatory remarks" aimed at Middle Eastern people, Jones interrupted stating "We don't haveAnglo-Saxon kids out thereraping women in Western Sydney".[13] Jones also broadcast and endorsed one listener's suggestion thatbikie gangs be brought down toCronulla railway station to deal with "Lebanese thugs" and that the event be televised, arguing that despite their notoriety bikie gangs do "a lot of good things". By Thursday, Jones had stirred significant discussion, and stated "I'm the person that's led this charge here. Nobody wanted to know aboutNorth Cronulla, now it's gathered to this."[14]
After the riots, Jones was found to have breached theAustralian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA)Code of Conduct section 1.3(a), as his comments were "likely to encourage violence or brutality and to vilify people of Lebanese and Middle-Eastern backgrounds on the basis of ethnicity".[14] In December 2009, theNSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal found Jones and radio station 2GB guilty of vilifying Lebanese Muslims in earlier "Cronulla Riot" broadcasts. A fine of $10,000 was imposed.[15][16]
Police were concerned about the repercussions of these events. Later investigations revealed that over 270,000 individualSMStext messages were transmitted inciting a racially motivated confrontation at North Cronulla Beach the following Saturday.[4]
Over the course of Sunday, 11 December 2005, approximately 5,000 people gathered in and around North Cronulla Beach. Early in the morning, people began to gather and impromptu barbecues and "partying" took place.[17][18][19] However at 12:59, a young man of "Middle Eastern appearance" was spotted on the beach and the crowds began "chanting stuff [and] yelling out things" before rushing him. The man attempted to avoid the crowd by quickly entering "Northies", a local pub, but the crowd forcibly dragged him out and attacked him. The police, having been in Cronulla since the early morning (includingpolice helicopters andpatrol boats), quickly intervened and resolved the situation.[17][4][18][19] ACronulla High School teacher later claimed that the crowd had attacked the man after he had shouted "I'm going to blow youse all up".[12]
At 13:30, two women verbally argued with a small group; the police arrived and both parties left. However, an hour later, they again met and a scuffle ensued. At 13:45, another two boys fromBangladesh[17] were surrounded by the crowd, and had bottles thrown at them, with the crowd repeatedly chanting "Fuck off Lebs!". The two boys escaped by car, which were smashed, stomped on and pelted with objects along the way.[4] Chants and slogans such as "Fuck off Lebs!", "We grew here, you flew here", "Aussie Pride", "Fuck offwogs!", were repeated and displayed throughout the day by the crowd. The crowd also attacked the police by throwingbeer bottles. Police vehicles were also prevented from entering the area.[20][18] Around 14:00 another three males were assaulted on the beach with the crowd throwing sausages and beer bottles at them.[4]
Rumours had persisted throughout the day that an additional 600 people would arrive by train, mostly from the west of Cronulla, to join the crowds. At approximately 15:00, "two young men of Middle Eastern appearance" arrived at Cronulla train station with the crowd outside chanting "Fuck off wogs!". The two men (one of whom was aRussian-born Afghan) took refuge in the train. However, the mob entered the carriage and began assaulting them; a police officer entered the train and forcibly cleared the crowd, later being found to have usedexcessive force.[17][4][21]
At 15:20, two separate assaults took place; one involved a crowd attacking a man of "Middle Eastern appearance" and throwing beer bottles.[4] In this case an officer intervened and removed the victim as they were both struck by the bottles. A second assault took place outside atakeaway restaurant; three men were taken inside the restaurant as refuge and the diners already inside were moved towards the back. The glass doors and windows were broken and those inside were moved outside without incident.[4]
By the end of the day, 26 people had been treated for injuries.[17][18] The 15:20 assault required the victim and the police officer to receive hospital treatment.[4] A total of 16 were arrested and charged with 42 offences including: malicious damage, assaulting a police officer,affray, offensive conduct,resisting arrest and numerousdriving offences.[8][18] One police officer was hit by a car and twoambulance officers were also amongst the injured as their ambulance, undermounted police escort, was surrounded and beer bottles were thrown, with one of the ambulance officers being hit on the head by a bottle and the other receivinglacerations on the arm.[4][8]
At 19:45, around 100 locals ofPunchbowl (a suburb 20 kilometres [12 mi] to Cronulla's northwest) gathered together at the local Punchbowl Park.[17][4] Additional groups, armed withbaseball bats, also gathered at The Promenade and Arncliffe Park.[4] Between 20:30 and 21:00, the groups formed a convoy of "more than 40 cars" and drove down to the beaches "to get revenge" with many of the cars ending up inMaroubra.[17] At 22:45, police were ordered "not to approach convoys of men of Middle Eastern appearance"; however car details andregistration details were to be recorded.[22]
A local of Maroubra reported that each of the cars that arrived was "full, you know, had four passengers". The convoy was reportedly armed with bars and bats, knives,machetes andguns.[17][23][24] The group assaulted several people, knocking one unconscious and threatening another with rape, and damaged between 60 and 100 cars, setting at least one on fire in Arden Street, Coogee.[17][23][24]Police in riot gear moved to contain the violence and the crowds responded by throwing bricks and glass.[24][25] Residents reported that in some streets "every car" had had their windows smashed, with glass covering the streets.[26] Police also confiscated 40 iron bars and arrested 14 people.[27]
At approximately 22:25, a 26-year-oldmechanic referred to as "Dan" was stabbed in the back three times and twice in the thigh with a 9.8 cm (3.9 in) blade.[24][28][29] The incident occurred outsideWoolooware golf club when two cars carrying a group of males "described as being of Mediterranean or Middle Eastern appearance" approached the man and his friends. Dan and his friends attempted to flee from the group, who were shouting "Get the Aussie dogs... get the Aussie sluts". Dan was knocked to the ground and was repeatedly kicked in the head. The attack ended when the knife snapped off in the victim's back.[28][29] He was taken to hospital in a serious condition as the blade had narrowly missed his spine and lungs.[24][25][29] Thegetaway driver for the attack was arrested and held in jail for 9 months, after which he wasparoled 5 months later for good behaviour.[30]
A man named Jake Schofield was attacked by a group of four men of "Middle Eastern appearance", who beat him repeatedly, stabbing him twice and hitting him with a piece of concrete before stealing his wallet and keys. The attack left him with afractured eye socket andnose.[31] All four assailants were arrested and charged.[31]
A woman wearing aheadscarf had her car stopped by a group of white males and was then abused and threatened by this group.[4]
Additional smaller riots occurred on the following nights in the suburbs of Maroubra,Brighton-le-Sands and Cronulla.[32] Text messages similar to the earlier 270,000 inciting racial violence had also turned up in other states includingQueensland,Victoria andWestern Australia.[32]
On 12 December, rioters had written various messages including; "Aussi [sic] to Die", "Intifada", "It's war", "Sunday cowards die, Soldiers rize [sic]", "Never rest assie [sic] dog", "We came in planes yous came by chains u convict dogs", and "We fear no ozy [sic] pigs" before continuing to destroy cars and local shops.[33] Approximately 2000 people gathered insideLakemba Mosque with another 800 gathered outside the evening after the riot.[34]SheikhShady Alsuleiman spoke to the crowd and called for calm.[34] However some were armed withGlock pistols which were displayed to the media.[23] At least some of the people gathered were reported to have planned to go on to Maroubra;[33] however the police blocked roads leading into Maroubra and 20 police cars surrounded the mosque.[33] TheUniting Church inAuburn,[32] a predominantlyTongan congregation,[32] was burned and those attendingChristmas carols were abused and threatened.[32] More than 30Molotov cocktails were also confiscated by police.[8]
Eight hundred police officers formed Operation Seta and were on patrol on the following nights, with up to 450 police officers blockading Cronulla on the night of 13 December[35] and an additional 11 people were arrested; five were arrested in relation to a replica pistol and six were arrested for property damage.[8][35][36] An additional seven people were injured including another police officer.[8] A husband and wife were taken to hospital after the wife was struck in the head and the husband tried to defend her, and another man was struck by a baseball bat and suffered a fractured forearm.[8]
The far-right political party known as theAustralia First Party claimed that 120 members and supporters attended the riots, and both members of the AFP and their youth wing, the Patriotic Youth League, were seen handing outanti-immigration leaflets and supplying alcohol there.[37] The now defunct Patriotic Youth League also played a part by distributingwhite power leaflets in the days prior to the riots, and held banners saying "Aussies fighting back" during the riots.[38]
By 19 July 2006, police had laid 285 charges against 104 people, 51 having been arrested as a result of the original Cronulla riot and 53 arrested from the retaliation riots.[39][40] These persons were charged with, amongst other things: malicious damage, possession or use of a prohibited weapon, assaulting police, rioting, resisting arrest, threatening violence and affray.[40][41]
Strike Force Enoggera was established on 13 December 2005, tasked with investigating the riots.[8][39][52] The strike force initially consisted of 28 members under the command ofSuperintendent Dennis Bray, but was increased to 100 officers on 20 January 2006. During a radio interview,New South Wales Police CommissionerKen Moroney claimed to have no video footage of the retaliatory attacks on 11 December; however it was later revealed that the police had had a video for five weeks, leading Moroney to sack Bray,[53] who was later reinstated to a lesser role, having been replaced byDetective Superintendent Ken Mckay.[54]
We knew always there was racism, but we never knew it was to this extent. I mean, all your life you've been – you've been raised to be Australian. I mean, you carry the Australian flag. When you go to sports events and all that, you're happy to be Australian and all that. And all of sudden people reject you. "Go home!" They shout your names. Like, "Go home, you Middle Eastern Lebs," or whatever. "Go home." I mean, that's a shock to us. "Go home." I mean, like, you get cut inside your heart, you know. Like you feel like you're not part of society no more.
— Eiad Diyab, a local ofPunchbowl, talking toFour Corners[17]
Brian Wilshire, a 2GB radio host, stated the following weekend on air, "Many of them have parents who arefirst cousins whose parents are first cousins, the result of this inbreeding — the result of which is uneducationable [sic] people... and very lowIQ", comments for which he later apologised.[55]
Ananti-racism rally, attended by 2,000 people, was held inBourke Street,Melbourne,Victoria.[55] Apologies for the riots at Cronulla were later issued on behalf of some local surf clubs, saying their members rejected racism and violence. The gathering was justified as a protest against "ethnic gangs" with blame for the rioting and violence largely placed on alcohol and the agitation of far-right groups.[56] During a press conference along with theComanchero MC (which has a large number of Middle Eastern members), an apology from the Maroubra "Bra Boys" was also issued to leaders of the Islamic community. Apologies from several others involved were also issued to Sydney's Lebanese community, though the earlier "protest" part of the day was still defended.[57]
Writing a year after the riots, novelist Hsu-Ming Teo ofMacquarie University was worried thatAustralian multiculturalism was being eroded,[20] stating that multiculturalism was one of Australia's defining features that allowed it to broker differences with its geographical neighbours, and that it was almost unique in its ethnic and cultural origins. She suggested that in recent years multiculturalism had begun to be derided withconservative politicians calling forone homogeneous, non-diverse culture, citing amongst others the "popularity and success" ofPauline Hanson and herOne Nation Party.[20]
In 2008, Australian portrait photographerMichel Lawrence publishedAll of Us, a book containing photographs of people born in 200 other countries, but who were now living in Australia.[58] Lawrence said theAll of Us project was wholly inspired by the Cronulla riots.[58][59][60] "You watch this stuff on TV and you wonder why people are doing this – this is no way for a multicultural society to behave", said Lawrence.[59]
TheNew South Wales parliament convened on 15 December to pass laws giving police new powers[32][61] including: the ability to seize cars and mobile phones for up to seven days, close licensed premises and prohibit bringing alcohol into lockdown zones.[36][61] A new offence of "assault during a public disorder" was also introduced and both rioting and affray had their minimum sentences increased.[36][61] New South Wales PremierMorris Iemma called the attacks "disgusting, cowardly behaviour"[62] and condemned the rioters. He also called on the community leaders to use "their influence to get the hot heads to cool it".[62]
New South Wales Police CommissionerKen Moroney called the riots "absolutely totally un-Australian",[18][19][63] saying that "I saw, in my 40 years of police service, some of the most disgraceful behaviour and conduct by adults that I'd ever seen."[64]New South Wales Opposition leaderPeter Debnam called it "a real disgrace" and called for a tougher police response.[18]Australian Prime MinisterJohn Howard condemned the violence describing it as "sickening and deplorable"[41] but denied any racial undertones, saying the events were primarily an issue of law and order[41][61] — a view echoed by the TreasurerPeter Costello, who described the Sydney riots as "an example of hoodlums who got out of control".[55] Federal opposition leaderKim Beazley described the attacks as "simply criminal behaviour, that's all there is to it".[41]
One Nation NSW figureDavid Oldfield blamed the riots on the “failed social policy ofmulticulturalism” and called for an alternativeassimilationist approach that highlights "the principles of unity given by a single national identity".[65]
Look at what a beautiful day it is. The weekend before Christmas. Over there should be absolutely packed, but there's just a sea of empty tables.
— Daryl Peat, a restaurant and bar owner inTerrigal on the New South WalesCentral Coast[66]
Many of the small businesses in and aroundTerrigal on theNew South Wales Central Coast (two hours north of Cronulla) reported that a police lockdown of the beach caused business to drop to 10% of normal levels on a Saturday, with only 25% of Christmas shopping crowds turning up on the Sunday.[66] Tourism and hospitality workers in the area were laid off or had their hours cut.[67] The New South Wales state government announced aA$250,000 tourism campaign after authorities inGreat Britain,Canada andIndonesia issuedtravel warnings to their citizens.[68]
The Party for Freedom (PFF) planned to mark the tenth anniversary of the events with a rally on Saturday, 12 December 2015.[69] PFF chairman Nicholas Folkes was refused permission in theSupreme Court of New South Wales "on the grounds it would stir upracial hatred". In a separate case, theFederal Court of Australia ruled that no other person or groups could commemorate the anniversary. The Federal ruling was in response to a joint application byJamal Rifi, a prominent member of the Lebanese Muslim community in Australia, and theSutherland Shire Council who applied for the Federal Court ruling.[69]
In place of the rally a "halal-free" barbecue, attended by about 50, was held on Don Lucas Reserve nearWanda Beach.[70][71] A larger number of counter protesters in "the hundreds", includingAntifa members, were also present.[70] A heavy police presence included the riot squad, mounted police and helicopter, and the two groups were mostly kept apart. Two anti-racism protesters were arrested.[71] The majority of the anti-racism protesters were escorted by police to Cronulla Railway station and onto trains headed towards the city of Sydney. They were accompanied by riot police.[71]
The 2016 filmDown Under is set in the aftermath of the riots.
