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2006/10: Are the Cronulla riots evidence of significant racism in Australia?

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What they said ...
'I do not accept that there is underlying racism in this country. I have always taken a more optimistic view of the character of the Australian people'
The Prime Minister of Australia, Mr John Howard

'No more Lebs'
One of the slogans chanted during the Cronulla riots

The issue at a glance
On Sunday December 11, 2005, approximately 5000 people gathered in an ad-hoc protest to 'reclaim the beach' near the beachfront at Cronulla, a southern coastal suburb of Sydney. The crowd had assembled following a widely-reported series of earlier confrontations, one involving an assault on three volunteer lifesavers which had taken place the previous weekend. The assault on the lifesavers had apparently been committed by youths of Lebanese appearance. In the week leading up to December 11, the earlier incidents and the circulation of anonymous SMS text messages calling on people to gather at the beach were widely reported in the media.
December 11 began without incident, but violence broke out after a large segment of the mostly white crowd chased a man of middle eastern appearance into a hotel. The ensuing mˆl‚e soon became widespread. During the rioting, a number of police, ambulance officers and individual members of the public perceived to be Lebanese were assaulted.
The following nights there was retaliatory violence and vandalism by predominantly Lebanese Moslems in Cronulla and other suburbs throughout the southern Sydney Metropolitan Area. The police ordered a lock-down of the beaches in Sydney and surrounding areas, from Wollongong to Newcastle. Such action had never been taken before.
The day after these riots occurred, the Prime Minster, Mr John Howard, declared that he did not see them as evidence of a 'underlying racism' in Australia. The Prime Minster's judgement was immediately disputed by a range of commentators and by the results of a survey conducted by The Age.

Background
Australia, racial diversity and the position of Lebanese immigrants
In the last national census in 2001, 43 percent of the Australian population, then 18.9 million, replied they had been born overseas or had one parent born overseas. Every year, more than 100,000 new migrants land in Australia, one of the highest per-capita immigrations in the world.
These immigrants have brought with them 200 different languages, according to the Australian Department of Immigration. The second most commonly spoken language after English is Chinese.
Since the 1970s, successive national and state governments have pursued a policy of multiculturalism, which maintains that national strength can be forged from cultural diversity. There is a vast array of government and nongovernment institutions, programs and laws designed to protect migrants and racial minorities, to incorporate them into the wider community and to allow them to continue to celebrate and pass on their cultural heritage.
The 160,000 Lebanese migrants and their Australian-born children make up the largest number of Arab Muslims. They mainly live in Sydney. Arabic is now Sydney's second most commonly spoken foreign language, according to the 2001 census.
On most measures of well-being, the Lebanese community lags behind the rest of Australia. Its unemployment rate, at 14.5 percent, according to immigration department data, is almost three times the national average. Young Lebanese do far worse at school than the average Australian child and young Lebanese men are far more likely to spend some time in prison. Politicians and the police in Sydney have said there are active criminal gangs operating in parts of the city, comprised of young Lebanese men. In 2001, a group of Lebanese youths were convicted of gang rapes of white Australian women. A recent survey of 551 high school students by a researcher at the Australian Catholic University found one in two thought Muslims were terrorists.

Internet information
On December 12, 2005, the Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, gave a press conference at which he gave his views on the significance of the Cronulla riots which had occurred the day before. It was as part of the press conference that he stated that he did not believe that the riots were evidence of 'underlying racism'.
A full transcript of this press conference can be found at http://www.pm.gov.au/news/interviews/Interview1723.html

The Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs has as part of its web site a section given over to multiculturalism. This site presents a very positive picture of the level of racial harmony claimed to exist it Australia.
An index to this section of the site can be found at http://www.immi.gov.au/faq/multicult/

Racism No! is a radical monitoring and information Internet source intending to report on and increase awareness of the threat of racism in Australia. It appears to have been set up in direct response to the Cronulla riots.
The site can be found at http://racismno.blogspot.com/2005/12/attempts-to-spread-racist-attacks.html

On December 22, 2005, the World Socialist Web Site produced an analysis of what it claims are the class issues that lie behind the racial tensions in Cronulla and similar areas. This article can be found at http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/dec2005/sepa-d22.pdf

On January 25 2006 the radical Internet publication, Green Left Weekly, produced an analysis in which it examined the role of the media, especially talk-back radio, in promoting racial tensions.
This article can be found at http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2006/653/653p13.htm

Arguments suggesting the Cronulla riots are not evidence of significant racism in Australia

1. Australia has a history of accepting and accommodating many waves of migration
Those who dispute that racism is a significant problem in Australia point to the country's history of successfully accommodating successive waves of immigration. This is the view being promoted by the Australian Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, who has stated, 'I do not accept that there is underlying racism in this country. I have always taken a more optimistic view of the character of the Australian people. This nation of ours has been able to absorb millions of people from different parts of the world over a period of now some forty years and we have done so with remarkable success and in a way that has brought enormous credit to this country.'
A similar view has been put on the web site of the Australian Department of Immigration, where it is stated, 'Australia is one of the most harmonious societies in the world. We have a long history of cultural diversity and we have learned to accept people from different backgrounds whose skills, commitment and hard work benefit Australia. Incidents of racism and violence in Australia and overseas remind us that acceptance of difference and the awareness of the benefits of cultural diversity are not universal or guaranteed. Australia's multicultural approach has evolved to suit our own circumstances, has proven to be successful and is something all Australians can be proud of.'
Similarly, Gerard Henderson, writing in The Sydney Morning Herald in a piece published on December 20, 2005, has stated, 'Despite immigration and related issues spilling into the political debate on occasions, Australia has remained a tolerant and accepting society, compared with other nations.'

2. Most Australians do not endorse racist attitudes
It has also been argued that whatever racism might exist in Australia, racist attitudes are held by only a small majority of Australians. This view has also been put by the Australian Prime Minister, Mr John Howard. Mr Howard has stated with regard to the Cronulla riots, 'The overwhelming majority of Australians have the proper instincts and decent attitudes and decent values.'
A similar view was put by Janet Albrechtsen in an opinion piece published in The Australian on December 14, 2005. Mr Albrechtsen stated, 'Suggesting that the nation is swamped by racists, that ordinary Australians need some fine moral instruction from the likes of [Bob] Brown [leader of the Greens], is just the latest adaptation of the David Williamson school of thought that treats ordinary Australians with disdain. It's a form of elitist self-loathing that gets us nowhere ...'
Gerard Henderson writing in The Sydney Morning Herald in a piece published on December 20, 2005, has stated, 'The recent events in Sydney are contemptible but, so far at least, they remain peculiar to Sydney. They turn on the criminality of a minority of young Australians of Muslim Lebanese background and the criminality of Australians of predominantly Anglo-Celtic background who attacked those whom they refer to as "Lebs" at Cronulla last Sunday week.'
The fact that there have been substantial anti-racist rallies in a number of major Australian cities since the Cronulla riots has been put forward as evidence that a majority of Australians do not share the views of those who rioted at Cronulla.

3. The Cronulla riots were prompted by a complex mix of factors
It has further been argued that the apparently racist attitudes in Cronulla and similar areas are the product of economic tensions rather than racial prejudice.
The Global Research, a Canadian-based research group interested in globalisation has stated, 'All over Australia the gap between 'the haves' and the 'have nots' is widening steadily... The Anglo-Saxon rich are congregating around the beaches and in leafy suburbs, while the poor are pushed further into the poorer suburbs - where most of the about 300,000 Muslim Australians live - with little prospect of finding decent employment or education.' Thus, there are those who argue that economic disparities rather than racial prejudices lie behind the recent riots at Cronulla.
It has further been argued that Lebanese youth have a disproportionate involvement in Sydney's criminal activities. Thus there are those, in common with the premier of New South Wales, Morris Iemma, who have seen the issue as essentially one of law and order, rather than a racial issue.
Writing in The Sydney Morning Herald on December 22, 2005, Miranda Devine claimed that these riots were occurring because New South Wales police had largely ignored crime among Sydney's Lebanese community. Ms Devine wrote, 'Rather than a problem of race, religion or multiculturalism, Sydney is suffering from a longstanding crime problem. It is a textbook case of how soft policing and lenient magistrates embolden successive waves of criminals, infecting other people who might otherwise have been law-abiding.'

4. Whatever racist attitudes may have been demonstrated at Cronulla are not indicative of a broader problem
It has further been claimed that the racist problems of Cronulla and similar areas are particular to those areas and do not reflect a problem occurring throughout the country.
Gerard Henderson writing in The Sydney Morning Herald in a piece published on December 20, 2005, has stated, 'The problems among the Lebanese were identified by Nadia Jamal in the Herald last Tuesday when she said that "some men of Australian Lebanese Muslim background seem to be so aggressive and violent ... This has everything to do with culture and patriarchal attitude, and nothing to do with religion. This is very much a Sydney issue and does not affect Australia as a whole ... It is unwise to draw Australia-wide conclusions from the social disorder in parts of Sydney. What is at issue here is criminality - not the existence of widescale racism or the failure of multiculturalism.'
A similar point has been made by the Prime Minister of Australia, Mr John Howard, who has stated, 'I think it's important that we do not rush to judgement about these events. I do not accept that there is underlying racism in this country. I have always taken a more optimistic view of the character of the Australian people.'

5. The Federal Government has not adopted policies that encourage racism
The Federal Government has maintained that the policies it has adopted in areas such as the control of potential terrorists within Australia have been completely justified and have neither been intended to provoke racial hostility nor are likely to have done so. Further, the Australian Government has claimed that the policies it has adopted with regard to reducing the threat of terrorism have been necessary and would have had to be followed, even if a small number of people in some ethnic minorities misconstrued these policies as a racial attack.
This point has been made by the Prime Minister of Australia, Mr John Howard, who has stated, 'It's impossible to know how individuals react, but everything that this Government has said about home-grown terrorism has been totally justified, totally justified and it is a potential threat. To suggest that one should remain silent on something like that, knowing what I know, because that might antagonise somebody else is a complete failure of leadership.'

6. The Cronulla riots can be adequately dealt with as a law and order issue
It has been repeatedly claimed that the Cronulla riots are essentially a law and order issue and can be adequately dealt with as such.
This position has been put by the Prime Minister of Australia, Mr John Howard, who has stated, 'This is first and foremost a question of the application of the law of this country to people who have broken it. Anybody who broke the law yesterday should be apprehended and prosecuted. Anybody who broke the law on Cronulla Beach the previous weekend should likewise be apprehended and prosecuted.
The New South Wales Premier, Mr Morris Iemma, has also stressed that the issue is essentially a law and order issue to be dealt with by appropriate police action. Mr Iemma has stated, 'We will do everything in our power to protect the right of all law abiding Australians and our life saving volunteers to use the beach in safety. The police have resources available to do their job and they will continue to do so for as long as necessary.'
Mr Iemma has said that lawlessness would not be tolerated and there would be no compromises in upholding the law.

7. The Cronulla riots will not damage Australia's international reputation
The Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, has stated that he does not think the violence at Cronulla will harm Australia's international reputation in the long-term. 'You have outbreaks of domestic discord - that happens to every country and when it occurs there's publicity,' Mr Howard has claimed.
'But,' the Prime Minister stated, 'people make a judgment about this country over a longer term. They don't make judgments about Australia based on incidents that occur over a period of a few days.'

Arguments suggesting the Cronulla riots are evidence of significant racism in Australia
1. The Cronulla riots are evidence of a problem that extends beyond the beach suburb
It has been claimed that the riots that occurred at Cronulla were not the result of purely local problems with limited racial implications. Rather, it has been argued that these riots are a reflection of wider racial tensions with potential ramifications for Australia as a whole.
Those who argue this position claim that the number of people from outside the area who were involved in these riots suggests the general nature of the issues involved. They claim that the call to 'reclaim the beach' was an appeal to racist prejudices in the wider Australian community and are concerned at the apparently wide-spread response to this call.
The area's Mayor, Mr Kevin Schreiber, has stressed that many of those who took part in what he considers to have been racist riots came from outside Cronulla. Mr Schreiber has stated, 'As mayor and as a resident of Cronulla, I'm devastated by what has occurred on our beachfront. It is the actions of a few, but let's not kid ourselves that people didn't come from far and wide to participate.'

2. The Cronulla riots were racially motivated
It has been claimed that the violence that occurred on Sydney beaches was racially motivated, as demonstrated by the slogans the rioters chanted and the placards they carried.
After the attack on the lifesavers on Cronulla beach an SMS text message was circulated urging retaliation for the earlier assault of a number of lifesavers. The text message encouraged 'Aussies' to take revenge against 'Lebs and Wogs' and said 'Bring your mates and let's show them that this is our beach and they are never welcome'.
It was widely reported that the attacking gangs chanted 'No more Lebs [Lebanese]' and 'Aussie, Aussie, Aussie... Oi, Oi, Oi,' attacking anyone who looked like they might have come from the Middle East. One Muslim woman apparently had her headscarf ripped off. The rioters marched across sand, on which was written "100 per cent Aussie pride". One white teenager had the words "We grew up here, you flew here" painted across his back.
Labor Senator Stephen Smith has stated, 'News footage of the swarming white militants in Cronulla has provided some of the most disturbing scenes of racism on our streets. What we saw was racist slogans daubed on placards, bodies and tee shirts. One tee shirt proclaimed "ethnic cleansing unit"'.

3. Sydney's suburbs have a history of racial tension
Researchers have produced a map - based on a survey of 1800 Sydney residents - plotting areas of racial intolerance in Sydney. The survey is part of work by Associate Professor Jim Forrest, of Macquarie University and Kevin Dunn, of the University of NSW.
Professor Forrest has claimed that the least accepting groups were in outer suburbs where populations are mostly of solidly Anglo-Saxon origins. But the least tolerant also include culturally diverse places such as Liverpool and 'old' wealth areas such as Mosman and Woollahra. Waverley, which adjoins Woollahra but is more culturally diverse, is among the most tolerant.
Cronulla is of those suburbs which the researchers have found to be least tolerant of racial diversity. It has been reported that the violent clashes at Cronulla followed weeks of rising racial tension in the beachside suburb, which is popular with thousands of Middle Eastern families from Sydney's mainly ethnic outer areas at the weekend. Locals have accused some of them, particularly visiting Lebanese youths, of being disrespectful to white women and other beachgoers.

4. Australia has a history of racial tension and violence
There are those who hold that racism has been a prominent feature of Australia's history as a modern nation. Those who hold this view claim that the taking of the land from its original Aboriginal occupants, the 'terra nullius' concept that appeared to deny their legal existence, the prejudice displayed against Chinese immigrants to Australia and against successive waves of migrants of non-Anglo-Saxon origin, together with a long-standing fear of Asian invasion from the north all demonstrate a deep-seated racism within Australian culture.
In an article published recently on the World Socialist Web Site it was claimed, 'Since the formation of the Australian nation in 1901, the entire political establishment has advocated a form of nationalism that has always been deeply rooted in racist conceptions. For the founding fathers ... advocating a "White Australia" became the ideological cement for welding together the six British colonies ... Fear of "Asian hordes", intent upon invading the great southern continent and who threatened to "pollute" the "superior white race" was used as a means of promoting a sense of "national identity" and an "Australian way of life".'
Scott Poynting, an associate professor at the University of Western Sydney, and contributor to several studies on the Australian Arab community, has claimed that incivility and abuse directed at Arabs and Muslims in Australia has been on the rise since the early 1990s. Professor Poynting has stated, 'From the beginning of the first Gulf War, particularly with Australia's involvement in it, Arab Australians and Muslim Australians from other backgrounds began to be subjected to a highly increased level of vilification and even assault in public places.'
The growing evidence of racist acts directed at Arabs and other Muslims prompted the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission to start a detailed study of the problem in March 2003.

5. The Australian Government has adopted policies that encourage racism
It has been claimed that the Howard Government has encouraged racism in this country. A recent article published on the World Socialist Web Site has claimed, 'From the beginning of his term as prime minister in 1996, Howard has assiduously attempted to cultivate a racist and right-wing nationalist base for the Coalition government. When the extreme-right member of parliament Pauline Hanson assailed Aborigines and immigrants, Howard said he disagreed with her views-but then immediately called for a "debate" on the issues in order to further his own agenda.
Howard won a third term in office in 2001 after effectively subverting the election by mounting a vicious and completely dishonest anti-refugee campaign which centred on the lie that asylum seekers had thrown their children into the ocean off Australia.
The Liberal Party's central slogan for the campaign was the prime minister's declaration that "We will decide who comes to this country, and the circumstances under which they come."
In recent years, Muslim Australians have been scapegoated, with the government using the "war on terror" to cast a pall of suspicion over all Middle Eastern immigrants.'
Duncan Kerr, the Federal member for Denison in Tasmania and a former Federal Attorney General and Minister for Justice in the Keating government has stated, 'People take their lead in large measure from the characterisations of their society made by its leaders. So when those leaders focus on fear and difference, not commonality, the result is an "us and them" society and the beginning of social decline. On several fronts, the Howard Government has contributed to the inflammation of prejudices ignited by the terrorist attacks of 2001.'
Mr Kerr has further stated, 'First, a succession of laws aimed at preventing and punishing terrorist activity have been introduced and passed. Australians of Islamic background have expressed concern that members of their community will be disproportionately targeted by the extra powers granted to police and intelligence agencies, such as preventive detention, surveillance and control orders. The government has made little effort to reassure that this will not be the case.
Then there was Howard's famous statement 2001 that "we will decide who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come". Again, this tough approach was perceived to be directed at people from certain backgrounds, namely people from predominantly Muslim countries in South Asia.'
It has been claimed that when a government appears to regard certain racial groups with distrust such attitudes encourage racial prejudice within the broader community.

6. The Cronulla riots require that anti riot laws be strengthened
It has been claimed that Australian laws are currently inadequate to deal with the racially inspired violence that occurred at Cronulla. The New South Wales Government has announced new laws to crack down on ethnic violence, in response to the unrest that has occurred in parts of southern Sydney since Sunday December 11.
The New South Wales parliament has held a special sitting to pass new laws, which will enable police to declare lock-down zones, confiscate vehicles, shut down licensed premises and impose temporary alcohol-free zones.
This range of dramatically increased police powers has been in response to a previously under-estimated threat of racial violence.

7. The Cronulla riots have damaged Australia's reputation overseas
The Opposition foreign affairs spokesperson, Mr Kevin Rudd, has said that anyone who believed the Cronulla riots had not hurt Australia's international standing was 'burying their head in the sand'. Mr Rudd further claimed, 'Blind Freddy can tell you this is having an impact on Australia's international standing.'
The Queensland Premier, Mr Peter Beattie, has also predicted that Australia's image in the world at large would be harmed. 'I think most Australians will be embarrassed by what's happened. It really is a blight on our international reputation,' Mr Beattie has claimed.

Further implications
Though a complex range of factors came together to result in the Cronulla riots, it seems willfully wrong-headed to deny that there was some element of racial antagonism involved. The problem is in part that it is difficult to acknowledge that there has been a racial component to street fighting without running the risk of exaccerbating the problem you are seeking to either describe or remedy.
Without provoking further racial ill-feeling, it seems necessary to discover why so many Lebanese young men seem unable to find a productive place within Australian society. Racial tensions are frequently fed by economic differences. This is a difficult situation to address as it is hard to know to what extent many Lebanese Moslems may be dropping out of school and then failing to find well-paid employment because of a feeling of cultural alienation. Even if this is the case, a solution must be found because when to cultural and physical difference is added the catalyst of economic disadvantage and a resultant sense of grievance the results can be catastrophic.
As the situation in Ireland has demonstrated, financial prosperity can make it very much easier to overcome previously intractable religious and cultural differences. It is much easier to give a sub-group within any society the feeling that they belong within that society if they are sharing in its wealth.

Sources used in the compilation of this issue outline
The Herald-Sun:  December 16, page 23, comment by Andrew Bolt, `More to the riots than racism'.
The Australian:  December 22, page 11, editorial, `The racism furphy'.
The Australian:  December 22, page 10, comment (with cartoon) by Andrew Norton, `If there is prejudice, there is also tolerance'.
The Australian:  December 21, page 12, comment by Paul Kelly, `Howard and his haters miss real migration story'.
The Age:  December 20, page 13, comment by Allan Patience, `Bring back the politics of race harmony'.
The Age:  December 20, page 12, editorial, `It's time to fully embrace multiculturalism'.
The Age:  December 20, page 4, news item (photo), `Tally: 163 people, 290 charges'.
The Age:  December 20, page 4, comment by Shaun Carney, `A collective change of heart on the migration question (with public opinion survey result)'.
The Age:  December 20, page 1, news item (with cartoon) by Jason Koutsoukis, `Howard got it wrong on racism: poll'.
The Australian:  December 19, page 8, comment by James Morrow, `Self-loathing is the newest hate crime'.
The Australian:  December 19, page 8, comment by Kevin Donnelly, `Perils of multicultural education'.
The Australian:  December 15, page 10, comment (photo of Professor Geoffrey Blainey) by Peter Ryan, `Apologise to Blainey'.
The Australian:  December 15, page 10, comment by Mike Steketee, `Hansonism revisited in wake of riots'.
The Australian:  December 15, page 10, comment by David Flint, `The "shock jocks" are in tune with the silent majority'.
The Age:  December 15, page 19, comment by Barney Zwartz, `Victimhood: a dangerous place that's our own backyard'.
The Age:  December 15, page 19, comment (with cartoon) by Marilyn Lake, `White Australia rules'.
The Herald-Sun:  December 14, page 21, comment by Andrew Bolt, `It's time to think'.
The Herald-Sun:  December 14, page 20, comments (photo) by Waleed Aly / Joseph Wakim, `We see birth of bigotry / Try to explain racism to a child'.
The Herald-Sun:  December 14, page 20, editorial, `Multicultural mayhem'.
The Herald-Sun:  December 14, page 1, news item by Ellen Whinnett, `Flag shame' (see also pages 4-5 photos, items).
The Australian:  December 14, page 13, editorial, `Racism not endemic'.
The Australian:  December 14, page 11, analysis (photos) by Cameron Stewart and Amanda Hodge, `Isolated and angry'.
The Australian:  December 14, page 12, comment (with cartoon) by James Jupp, `A place under the sun for all Australians'.
The Australian:  December 14, page 12, comment by Janet Albrechtsen, `Racism is repulsive, but so is self-loathing'.
The Age:  December 14, page 21, comment by Joseph Wakim, `Lost between war and peace, the Leb wild Westies'.
The Age:  December 14, page 21, comment (with cartoon) by Michelle Grattan, `The terror of racism'.
The Age:  December 14, page 20, editorial, `Finding the words to advance Australia fairly'.
The Age:  December 14, page 9, news items (photos) incl, `Police to get new powers to tackle violence / Cowering in Cronulla as hit-squad attackers lay waste to streets / Muslims shamed by gangs' (see also page 11 photos, items).
The Age:  December 14, page 1, news item (photo, cartoon) by Brendan Nicholson et al, `PM under attack on race riots' (with Paul Austin analysis, `Cultural divide from Sydney may save Melbourne').
The Herald-Sun:  December 13, page 18, comment by Robyn Riley, `Change our culture of violence'.
The Herald-Sun:  December 13, page 19, comment (photo) by Josh Massoud, `It was raw racism'.
The Australian:  December 13, page 12, comments by Tim Priest, Paul Comrie-Thomson, `Blame race riots on police force neglect / The rule of law must apply in all cases'.
The Australian:  December 13, page 13, editorial, `Blood on the beach'.
The Australian:  December 13, page 4, news items, photos, incl, `We're not a bunch of racists, PM says / Race riot to haunt Howard overseas' (see also page 13 comment by Prime Minister John Howard, `The mob violence does not mean we are a racist nation').
The Australian:  December 13, page 1, news item (photo) by Sexton and King, `Race warfare divides city' (with background by Richard Kerbaj, `Brace yourself, it'll be eye-for-an-eye').
The Age:  December 13, page 13, comment (with cartoon) by Tony Parkinson, `Sons of beaches: a land girt by bigots'.
The Age:  December 13, page 13, comment by Salam Zreika, `The un-Australian way'.
The Age:  December 13, page 12, editorial (with cartoon), `Sydney's beach riots sound a warning for all Australians'.
The Age:  December 13, page 1, news item (photo) by Brendan Nicholson et al, `Riots fire debate on racism' (with Michael Gordon background analysis, `Making sense of a black day' - see also pages 6-7 photos, items).
The Herald-Sun:  December 12, page 18, editorial, `Ugly face of racism'.
The Herald-Sun:  December 12, page 1, news item (photos) by Lawrence and McIlveen, `Race hate' (see also pages 4-5 photos, items).
The Australian:  December 12, page 1, news item (photos of Cronulla violence, riots) by King and Box, `Racist mobs hunt in packs in beach war' (see also page 6 photos, item, `Violent beach mob "hides behind flag").
The Australian:  December 10, page 10, news item (photo) by Kearney and Porter, `Police to charge author of call-to-brawl text'.
The Age:  December 5, page 15, comment by Philip Huggins, `Unrest in the suburbs'.