The Cronulla riots – the sequence of events

• Introduction - the daily coverage
• December 12 - first reports
• December 13
• December 14 & 15
• December 16, 17 & 18
• Aftermath
   
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December 12 – first reports

The Daily Telegraph carried the most reports, at 14, while the SMH carried only seven and The Australian five articles.

Headlines

“Race riots: our disgrace” was the lead-in header on most of the articles covering the incidents in the Daily Telegraph. One set of headlines clearly condemned the behaviour of the Cronulla rioters: “Beach riots shame Australia’s values”; “Alcohol and hate shatter summer idyll”; “Ugly descent into violent thuggery”; “Thuggish louts shame us all”. Others condemned the retaliatory violence carried out after dark: “Rampage mob moves on Maroubra” and “RSL Australian flag stolen and burned”. A few voiced the initial response of Cronulla locals: “Gangs are the problem, cries local” and “Happy for end to harassment”.

The Sydney Morning Herald labelled the incidents “The battle for Cronulla”, with headlines including “Our racist shame” and “Race riots explode”. One of the most evocative headlines was “Thugs ruled the streets, and the mob sang Waltzing Matilda”. The Australian labelled the rioters a “racist mob” and called the initial attacks and retaliatory actions a “race war”.

First impressions

The articles reported that the rioters yelled racist chants, including “bash Lebs”, “kill the wogs”, “kill Lebs” and “go home Lebby scum”. They noted that the crowds also chanted “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie” and sang “I am, you are, we are Australian” in defiance of the intended inclusiveness of the slogan. The SMH revealed that crowds sang Waltzing Matilda as they cornered victims and Advance Australia Fair as they attempted to overwhelm police. Two articles referred to a man wearing a hand-painted t-shirt reading “Mohammed was a camel raping faggot”.

Numerous locals were quoted displaying varying levels of support for the rioters and their attitudes. A number of young men and women involved in the incident clearly stated their support: “It’s about time we showed a bit of pride.” One volunteer lifesaver told the Daily Telegraph: “This has been coming. It’s not about race, it’s about respect and pride.” A number referred to specific incidents of violence or harassment they had experienced from young Middle Eastern men. “There has never been any trouble until the wog element arrived”; “This is not about being racist but it’s a bit of a coincidence that every troublemaker in this suburb and on this beach has been Lebanese”; “It is our greatest day. The Lebanese violence and intimidation has been going on six years … and we’re fed up with it”. Others were more forthright in their racist sentiments: “We are here to support the Shire and get these Lebs off our beaches. This is God’s country, and it’s time they left”; “My point being here today is to bash as many Lebs as I can … all I want is to belt them because they’re greasy and sleazy”; “I hate the Lebs … we just want them off our beaches”.

A few differentiated between the Lebanese community generally, noting that it was “those gang members who come to the beach to make trouble” that they wanted kept away from the beach. Some pointed out that they were there to protest against unacceptable behaviour on the beach and it wasn’t an issue of race. One told The Australian: “I’m not saying all the wogs and the Lebs are that bad, but there’s a certain group who harass and cause trouble.” One local resident, Glen Steele, was widely quoted. In some articles he was identified only as “Steeley”, saying he feared retaliation by “the Lebs” if he revealed his identity. He insisted he was not racist, revealing that he worked with Lebanese people and that he only took issue with the gangs harassing people on the beach. He was also quoted as saying “this is what our grandfathers fought for … we don’t need Lebos to take it away from us”. Another local noted that “I don’t support the violence … but I also think that the Lebanese guys are going to think twice about coming to Cronulla now”.

Other locals were shamed and frightened by the day’s events, many stating that they didn’t feel safe staying in the area. Three articles reported one lone man wearing a t-shirt that read “I’m ashamed to be an Australian in Cronulla”. One resident noted that “it’s a sad day for Cronulla and … for Australia when the locals are behaving like pack animals”. Others expressed their disgust at the “Aussies” from outside Cronulla coming to join the fight. A few criticised media reports of the lifesaver bashings for focusing on the racial aspects of the crime.

Un-Australian

The first day’s reporting contained a smattering of assertions that various behaviours were “un-Australian”. The NSW Police Commissioner condemned the violence, saying, “I have never in all my working days seen anything as un-Australian”, while the Assistant Commissioner said the crowds had swarmed victims, shouting “vile abuse, in the most un-Australian way”. Politicians backed this sentiment, although they avoided directly using the term “un-Australian”. Premier Morris Iemma criticised the rioters for trying to “hide behind the Australian flag”, stating that “the Australia that I know … does not support [this] sort of behaviour”, while the Police Minister declared that “these actions don’t belong in Australian society in 2005”.

Representatives of the Muslim community also noted that mob violence “is not the Australian way” and “I don’t believe this is the Australian spirit”. However, the rioters also claimed to be protesting against “un-Australian” behaviour on the beach. One man asserted that “these people try to stop our way of life … saying filthy things to our girls. That’s not the Australian way”. Other Cronulla locals condemned the riots as un-Australian: “People are going to hate Cronulla now. It has given us a bad name.”

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