Sequence 4: Cronulla Riots — an overview
On the infamous afternoon of Sunday 11th December, 2005, on Sydney’s Cronulla beach, a crowd of approximately 5000 — mostly White, English-speaking background youths — went on a rampage around the vicinity of the beach, shops and railway station, attacking anyone of ‘Middle Eastern Appearance’ The day began peacefully enough, as a response to what many saw as the unacceptable behaviour of some Middle Eastern men. An incident the previous weekend had been, it was claimed, the last straw. Several off-duty lifesavers and a group of Lebanese men had come into conflict over the use of space on the beach, resulting in a fight in which the lifesavers were injured. As the Hazard Report — the review of the policing response to the riots overseen by Norm Hazzard, the then Assistant Commissioner for Counter Terrorism and Public Order Management — suggested, such incidents are not uncommon on beaches amongst young men, even when cultural difference is not involved (Strike Force Neil, 2006: 6). Yet rarely do they lead to large-scale protest or ethnically-defined violence.
Two things happened during the week to transform a nasty but incidental event. On the one hand, mainstream media — in particular talk-back radio and tabloid newspapers - took up the incident, drawing in local, state and federal politicians and other ‘moral entrepreneurs’ which amplified the sense of panic (Cohen, 1980) and made it into a national debate about crime, ethnicity, violence, multiculturalism and the 'threat to the Australian way of life’. On the other, the 'new media' of text messaging became central to connecting local discontent to wider groups through a campaign of scare-mongering, partly driven by right-wing groups. These messages, calling on ‘Aussies’ to participate in a ‘Leb and wog bashing day’, were aired on the ‘old media’, increasing their reach and the scale of the problem. The Hazard Report concluded that, given the unremarkable nature of the original skirmish, it was the role of the media, and especially the exaggerated and distorted reportage promoted by some radio and newspaper commentators, that resulted in the scale of the riots (Strike Force Neil, 2006: 8).
By the end of the day the protest ‘had turned into an ugly, violent’ and drunken mob, many of whom had adorned themselves in 'the Australian flag and other symbols of nationalism’. Over a dozen were injured, and another dozen were arrested by a police force unable to quell the violence. Images of this violence dominated the media (flying across Australia and the world) and, over the next few nights, groups of young men of ‘Middle Eastern appearance’, largely from the south-western suburbs of Sydney, conducted revenge attacks in convoys of cars. These were also organised through text messaging and were perpetrated on people, cars and shops who were seen to represent the ‘Australian’ mob.
The consequences, both short and long term, are still being worked out.
Source for text above: Greg Noble (Editor) (2009) Lines in the sand: the Cronulla riots, multiculturalism and national belonging, The Institute of Criminology Press, pages 1–2. Republished with permission.
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