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Consultative Structure
Community Relations
Media Analysis
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Case Study Five |
Themes in the reporting of the Cronulla riots
Theme 1 – “Un-Australian”On December 12, The Australian reported NSW Police Commissioner Ken Moroney’s condemnation of the riots as “un-Australian” in three separate articles. The reports also noted the response of the president of the Lebanese Muslim Association, who stated: “I don’t believe this is the Australian spirit.” The defence of Australian culture was articulated by one of the riot’s visible ringleaders, identified as “Steeley”, who said that they protested because “these people try to stop our way of life”. The SMH also heavily reported the “un-Australian” utterances, referring to Commissioner Moroney’s comments in two articles. One rioter was quoted asserting that beating up lifesavers was “not the Australian way”, while “Steeley” again protested that “their women have got to swim in clothes … [and] saying filthy things to our girls. That’s not Australian”. NSW Premier Morris Iemma said “the Australia that I know … does not support the sort of behaviour” displayed by the rioters, while Police Minister Carl Scully asserted that “these actions don’t belong in Australian society in 2005”. Keysar Trad from the Islamic Friendship Association described the rioters’ mob behaviour as “absolutely outrageous and un-Australian”. The Daily Telegraph was quite restrained, making only two “un-Australian” references. The paper reported Assistant Police Commissioner Mark Goodwin’s description of rioters “swarming” victims and approaching “these people with the most vile abuse, in the most un-Australian way”. A short report described the markers of Aussie pride on display at Cronulla and asserted that “it would be hard to imagine a more un-Australian scene”. By December 13 the cries of “un-Australian” had diminished noticeably and did not reappear as the week continued. The Australian’s editorial condemned the rioters for claiming that they were “defending Australia’s way of life” through behaviour which was emphatically “not the Australian way”, and noted that the riot was sparked by “the behaviour of other thugs who do not understand the Australian way”, acting out violence and misogyny that “has no place in Australia”. As the first letters about the incidents were published, one writer asked “how do malevolent acts perpetrated by Australians on Australian soil earn the tag ‘un-Australian’?”, while another asserted that the riots demonstrated “we still have a ways to go before we can claim that such behaviour is un-Australian”. |
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