2005 Cronulla riots

The Cronulla riots were a series of race riots in Sydney, Australia. They began in the beachside suburb of Cronulla 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 of Middle Eastern descent and lifeguards at Cronulla beach, following reports of assault of lifeguards and harassment by "young Lebanese men." Following reporting by the tabloid media and shock jocks on local radio, a racially motivated gathering was organised via chain texting.

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. Two people were stabbed during these events, and 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-known radio personality Alan Jones was formally censured and fined for his broadcasts during the week.

New South Wales Police had been recording racial and ethnic tensions and incidents in and around Cronulla since October 2005. There is also a history of conflict between Cronulla locals and visiting beachgoers from the western suburbs ("Westies") with "bashings" (physical assault) common since the 1960s as part of a turf war between Westies and local surfers. There remains a great deal of debate as to whether previous racially charged attacks in the area like the Sydney gang rapes contributed to the tensions, or if the subsequent trials were used as justification for the attacks, despite many reporting otherwise. The previous summer on Australia 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 hurling missiles at police attempting to control the crowd.

Just after 15:00 on Sunday, 4 December 2005, police were called to North Cronulla Beach following a report of an assault on two off-duty male surf lifesavers by four members of a group of eight men. A verbal exchange had taken place after three lifesavers approached a group of four young Australian men with a Lebanese background on Cronulla 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 you cunts from drowning".

The verbal exchange escalated with one Australian Lebanese youth attempting to defuse the situation. Another Australian Lebanese youth 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. 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.

What kind of grubs? Well I'll tell you what kind of grubs this lot were. This lot were Middle Eastern grubs.

— Alan Jones, 5 December 2005, on 2GB radio