Riot police numbers to treble From: AAP By Peter Jean and Alyssa Braithwaite December 15, 2005
Police have been given stronger powers / Gary Ramage UP to 1500 police, armed with new powers given to them by an emergency session of NSW Parliament, will take to the streets of Sydney and the central coast at the weekend, to prevent further outbreaks of racial violence.
And extra police will be deployed in other states to watch out for potential trouble after authorities intercepted text messages similar to those which sparked Sydney's violence last weekend. NSW Parliament today rushed through laws empowering police to lock down, for as long as 48 hours, areas where unrest has broken out, or is threatening to break out.
The numbers of police deployed to keep the peace will triple at the weekend – from 450 after two days of racial violence in Sydney's east and south, to 1000 on Saturday and 1500 on Sunday.
Premier Morris Iemma recalled parliament from its summer break after rioters attacked people of Middle Eastern descent at Cronulla on Sunday, and members of Sydney's Lebanese community carried out apparent retaliatory attacks on Sunday and Monday nights.
Under the new laws that were passed unopposed today, police have the power to set up cordons in locked-down areas, search people and vehicles, close licensed premises and declare alcohol-free zones.
Advertisement: Vehicles and mobile phones used in disturbances can be seized by police for up to seven days and courts will be able to extend the confiscation of cars by a further 14 days. The penalty for rioting has increased from five years to 15 years and the penalty for affray will double to 10 years.
A new offence – assault during a riot – has also been introduced.
The laws will be monitored by the ombudsman and will expire in two years unless renewed by parliament.
Police Commissioner Ken Moroney said police were ready to use the laws, which were due to come into force tonight.
"To those who are intent on criminal behaviour: you are on notice," he told reporters.
Mr Moroney today called for an end to simmering racial tensions and urged residents to remember Christmas was on the way.
"The spirit of Christmas has simply disappeared out of this city and it is up to all of us, not only the police, but people of goodwill, to bring the spirit of Christmas back into this city," he said.
Mr Iemma said the new laws would give police the powers to crack down on anyone who tried to repeat recent disturbances.
"A small minority of thugs, hooligans, hoons and criminals lost track of what it is to be Australian," Mr Iemma told parliament.
"The vast silent, law abiding majority did not and have not – and their hopes and aspirations are what we are here to protect."
The opposition backed the laws but said they did not go far enough.
Opposition MPs accused the government of being soft on ethnic crime gangs, which they said were involved in Labor Party branch stacking.
"The problem is the government has had a softly, softly strategy for 10 years," opposition leader Peter Debnam told parliament.
"Why? Because you're indebted to some ethnic groups. That's the problem."
NSW Police Minister Carl Scully later defended a decision by police not to confront young men who gathered at Punchbowl in Sydney's west on Monday night.
Mr Scully said police had watched the men gathering around cars and talking but had not seen them commit any crime.
Sutherland Shire mayor Kevin Schreiber today welcomed the new powers, but called on the government to fund an education program to help promote racial harmony.
"We need the government's assistance in getting the message out there that the beaches are there to share, Mr Schreiber said.
A former first grade rugby league player, Glen Steele, whose hirsute image was splashed over TV screens at the height of the Cronulla race riot last weekend, today apologised for his behaviour.
Steele, who played six games for the Cronulla Sharks in 1984, was seen on national television, shirtless, wearing a baseball cap with an Australia flag motif and whipping the crowd into a frenzy.
" ... I'd like to apologise to the Middle Eastern community about what happened on Sunday," he told the Ten Network.
"At the start of the day, there was never any intention for the day to end up like it had.
"We've had a little bit of problems with gangs in Cronulla especially in summer over the last five to eight years.
"And with summer approaching, obviously the last couple of weeks, and with the lifesaver bashing the week before, this is what the protest was all about."
Extra police will be deployed at Adelaide's Glenelg Beach this weekend, amid fears there could be racist attacks there and West Australian reported intercepting text message inciting racial violence.
In Victoria, police decided not to lay charges against a young man who allegedly sent text messages inciting racial violence.
Queensland Premier Peter Beattie dismissed a racist text message campaign in his state as a hoax but said extra police would be on duty on the Gold Coast in case violence inspired by the events in Sydney breaks out.
