Mayor’s plea: Keep your racist attitude away from Cronulla

An offshoot of Reclaim Australia is considering a rally in Cronulla to mark the 10th anniversary of the race riots.

Mayor Kent Johns, in the Sydney suburb of Cronulla, says ‘I will always call out ­racism when I see it’. Picture: Renee Nowytarger

Sutherland Shire Mayor Kent Johns speaks bluntly about the riots that shocked Australia: “The scars are still raw.”

Almost 10 years after race riots in Cronulla, one of Sydney’s most famous beachside suburbs, Mr Johns says his community does not want a repeat of the violence in which mobs of alcohol-fuelled “Anglo Australians” fought mobs of “men of Middle Eastern ­appearance”, as the media reported at the time.

The ugly memories are being rekindled as the United Patriots Front, an offshoot of the Reclaim Australia movement, is considering a rally in Cronulla to mark the 10th anniversary.

NSW police do not want the event to go ahead but they are in a delicate legal situation: in Australia any group is entitled to apply for a permit for a demonstration.

Mr Johns said he was opposed to any UPF rally in Cronulla but that ultimately it was a decision for police.

“The UPF are not represent­ative of our community whatsoever and they are not welcome,” he said. “As mayor I have been to a lot of rallies and am happy to talk to people who have different views, but I will always call out ­racism when I see it.”

One source in the UPF told The Australian that ASIO had asked the UPF not to hold the rally. The source said the UPF had replied that if it was not able to hold a rally in Cronulla it would move it to Lakemba, in the heart of Sydney’s Islamic community.

Negotiations have been continuing in an effort to convince the UPF not to proceed with either a Cronulla or Lakemba rally.

NSW police said they had not received any permit application.

“While the NSW Police Force respects the right of individuals and groups to protest, police will not tolerate violent, disruptive or anti-social behaviour or any ­action that poses a threat to community safety,’’ a spokesman said.

Mr Johns said Cronulla residents did not want to relive ­December 11, 2005. He and some other councillors had to drive alongside each other from the council chambers for safety.

“I remember that night thinking this is not the country I was born in,” he said.

Mr Johns said the people who caused the riots were not locals but a combination of “heaps of thugs from Lakemba” with “a lot of outside neo-Nazis”.

“There were even women in ­bikinis handing out neo-Nazi pamphlets,” he said.

Mr Johns said much work had gone into improving relations since the riot.

“We worked very hard after that to mend these bridges by bringing together surf groups in Cronulla with youth groups in Lakemba,” he said.

As to the UPF, he said: “We don’t want people of that calibre turning up to remind people of that day. I’m opposed to anyone who promotes racism.

“Having further investigated UPF, they have such a history, their members have such a ­history.”

Reclaim Australia will not ­attend any Cronulla rally because of the possibility it could lead to another riot.

A spokeswoman for Reclaim Australia said the group’s next rally would instead be in ­Canberra.

Another group under the ­Reclaim Australia banner, the Party for Freedom, said its supporters might join a Cronulla rally.

The head of the Party for Freedom, Nick Folkes, said: “If the UPF was able to get a permit for Cronulla I probably would go, but any form of Nazism or fascism I completely reject.”