‘Double standards’ accused in lockdown policing of Sydney’s east and south west

Locked down Sydneysiders are scratching their heads as people in ritzy suburbs venture out unimpeded as police in the south west clamp down.

Two pictures side-by-side have shown the new divide in lockdown Sydney – and it’s grating with some residents of the city.

Police have begun a huge and visible crackdown in Sydney’s south west, the epicentre of a new flood of Covid-19 cases which risks seeing the city’s lockdown extended even further.

Senior officers have said some people may have to justify their essential purchases or risk a fine.

Yet in Sydney’s east, which was ground zero for the outbreak just days ago, there are far fewer police officers on the beat with people out and about unimpeded.

The huge contrast in policing has been labelled as “double standards”. However, police have insisted the measures are not about “racism” but rather were “very balanced, very fair and very measured”.

RELATED: Busy scenes at Bondi continue during Sydney lockdown

Manly Beach, on Sydney’s northern beaches, on Thursday. Picture: Tim Hunter.

South west new epicentre of Sydney outbreak

On Friday, 44 new cases of Covid-19 were reported in New South Wales of which 29 of those were infectious while in the community.

Many of those cases have come from suburbs within three local government areas (LGAs) in the city’s south west: Fairfield, Liverpool and Canterbury-Bankstown.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said earlier this week that the spread in the three council areas was at least partly being fuelled by family visits with people passing the virus “on to those they love the most”.

@theareamovement

It’s getting real now

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However, she also flagged that “compliance” with current regulations was an issue.

In response, NSW Police announced a “high visibility compliance operation” in the three LGAs with 100 extra police officers, the dog unit deployed, highway patrol and helicopter support.

No such announcement was made when the virus was spreading in ritzy eastern suburbs such as Bondi Beach in the last two weeks.

RELATED: Experts predict Sydney lockdown could be extended again

Police officers checking covid compliance in Fairfield City centre on Friday. Picture: Damian Shaw/NCA NewsWire

“Double standards” from authorities

Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi said on social media that public health, community engagement and vaccination was needed, not targeting “already marginalised communities”.

“This is a terrible turn of events. Over-policing multicultural communities is a recipe for disaster. The mounted police were never called into Avalon or Westfield Bondi.”

Director of the Diversity Council of Australia, Mariam Veiszadeh, said some police in Sydney’s south west were being “heavy handed” which didn’t occur in the northern beaches or eastern suburbs. Those regions both have less diverse communities and higher average incomes than the city’s south west.

“These double-standards need to be called out,” she said.

The accusation of “double standards” has continued over the last 24 hours. Sydneysiders have been comparing images of police cracking down on almost deserted streets the south west while locals go jogging, grab coffees and stroll along the boardwalks of Manly and Bondi.

One on social media said there was “not a copper in sight” at Bondi.

I’m hearing about incidents of a heavy handed approach being taken by some Police officers in their major operation targeting Covid Delta spread in south-west Sydney.
Such a heavy handed approach was never used in Avalon or Bondi. These double-standards need to be called out!

— Mariam Veiszadeh (@MariamVeiszadeh) July 8, 2021

Bondi beach this morning. You can’t make this stuff up, however, they want to strong arm the Western suburbs. It’s quite frustrating to see the double standards. pic.twitter.com/0qL6QYC4bW

— Special K (@SpecialK0978) July 9, 2021

Bondi v South West this morning “police said he was not wearing a mask !make up your own mind ! @nswpolice@GladysB@deemadigan (tag you if you can share) @AlboMP@MinnsChris@TheTodayShow@theprojecttv@[e-mail]/Kd7MFG51Ca

— MaryLord (@Lourdes4eva) July 9, 2021

Bondi = 160.
Northern Beaches = 151
SW Sydney = 21
NSW Police launch major operation, 100 extra cops and south-western suburbs referred to as ground zero.
900 customers in Joh Bailey's Double bay seed the city. No consequences. pic.twitter.com/AQvD4TVtH7

— ☪️ Shayne Chester بلال محمد الحاج (@shayne_chester) July 8, 2021

Bondi gets an 'oops, it's ok' and Bankstown gets police.

— sara m. saleh | سارة صالح #SaveSheikhJarrah (@SaraSalehOz) July 8, 2021

So there's thousands of people on Bondi Beach with the breakout and surrounding areas with no extra cops. Bankstown local area gets a few and the military literally gets called in. Lol unbelievable pic.twitter.com/stkaJwc6lx

— Sydney Trader (@sydney_trader) July 9, 2021

Premier, police insist crackdown warranted

However, the NSW Premier has insisted a double standard was not taking place.

“It’s always a fine balance but we need to stop people doing the wrong thing no matter where they live,” Ms Berejiklian said on Friday.

“Police focus moves to where the virus is moving and it does not matter what the postcode is.

“Unfortunately, on many occasions, people don’t do the right thing because they don’t understand what the rules are or how serious the situation is.”

On Channel 9’s Today show, NSW Police Minister David Elliot addressed the apparent discrepancy between Sydney’s east and south west.

He said the situation was indeed different in Fairfield, Liverpool and Canterbury-Bankstown.

“There was compliance [in Bondi] and the numbers weren’t there,” Mr Elliott said.

“We saw in the city’s east last weekend people outside, yes, – in my mind – they were breaching the spirit of the law but there was no reason why people needed to be arrested.

“What we’ve seen in southwestern Sydney is people going from one house to the next.

“We’ve seen low compliance levels. That is why we have seen this massive spike in the number of people that have been affected by the virus.”

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has had better weeks. Picture: James Gourley/NCA NewsWire

On Thursday, NSW Police deputy commissioner Mel Lanyon said the blitz was “not about discrimination”.

“This is not about racism,” he said adding police had taken a “very balanced, very fair and very measured” approach to enforcing heath orders.

Deputy commissioner Gary Worboys also defended the police operation. On Friday, he said similar operations had also occurred in Albury when the border was closed with Victoria and that extra officers had indeed gone to both Bondi and the northern beaches.

“The operational decision is based on the public health orders and the fundamental response that police have to enforce those health orders,” he said.

“But right throughout this pandemic, and indeed in the last two weeks or so, especially in southwest Sydney, the vast majority of people do the right thing.”