Examining Australia's Racial Dynamics: Evolution Since the Cronulla Riots

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On 11 December 2005, around 5,000 people flocked to the Sydney beachside suburb of Cronulla for what quickly became a violent rally against Middle Eastern immigration.

Racial tensions had been simmering in Sydney for some time, but the situation reached a tipping point after two Cronulla lifeguards were assaulted by a group of men.

That event, and other alleged altercations, were reported widely across the media.

In response, thousands of text messages were circulated, promoting a so-called “Aussie pride” rally and calling for revenge attacks on people perceived to be Middle Eastern.

Footage from the day shows rampaging mobs of young men and women chanting racist slogans and at times clashing with police. Some individuals of Middle Eastern appearance were attacked by groups within the mob.

That evening, a large convoy of youths of Middle Eastern descent from western Sydney retaliated with further violence in Cronulla and other suburbs.

A total of 26 individuals sustained injuries, 104 were taken into custody, and close to 300 charges were filed following a series of disturbances. These incidents led to additional smaller riots erupting in nearby neighborhoods over the subsequent nights.

Feroz Sattar, who at the time was a 17-year-old Muslim who had moved from Sydney’s northern beaches to its southwest, said the events were “really confronting” for him.

“To also see the impact that it had on the broader community was just really, really disappoint[ing] and really sad to see that a significant proportion of people just didn’t want us, and didn’t think that we belonged in Australia or in surf culture,” he told SBS News.

Sutherland Shire Mayor Jack Boyd — who witnessed the riots as a 13-year-old — said the events weren’t representative of the Cronulla community back then, or now, but acknowledged that the sentiment on display needed to be addressed.

Concerns about the rise of racism and regression in Australia were also expressed. “In recent years, these issues seem to have become more pronounced, which is worrying for those of us working in multicultural spaces. It’s crucial that we take control of the narrative around what it means to be Australian,” the representative added.

One of those programs was created by Feroz, who co-founded Surf Brothers, an organisation teaching swimming, surf survival and surf lifesaving skills to young people from migrant communities.

He said the program has seen strong bonds develop between his Muslim community and the area’s surf lifesaving community.

“The power of relational health and communities just organically coming together to help each other out to develop skills and have a more inclusive surf culture that’s representative of what modern Australia is formed some really lovely, genuine friendships between communities that have had really fractured relationships for the last 20 years or so.”

Effects of racism ‘actually emboldened’

While some Cronulla locals and Australians of Middle Eastern descent say attitudes are changing, others are concerned about new, more organised anti-immigration movements.

Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Council of Australia (FECCA) chair Peter Doukas told SBS News racist messages within the community have been growing louder.

“So I think that the effects of racism and regression in Australia are actually emboldened in recent years, and it gives us all in the multicultural space cause for concern, and cause to mobilise ourselves about the taking control of the conversation about what an Australian is.”

Mass anti-immigration rallies in Sydney and Melbourne in August and October this year were attended by thousands, at times breaking out into contained violence.

While the Cronulla riots have at various points been partly attributed to mob mentality, alcohol, and anti-social elements, Doukas believes modern expressions of anti-immigration sentiment are in some ways more concerning.

“Well, the riots were a one-off flash-in-the-pan as we say, whereas the rallies that we’ve seen more recently are far more coordinated and have a political agenda, and that’s something that we didn’t see.”

“After the rallies, they didn’t forge a movement that was built up. There was general condemnation, and I think overwhelming community condemnation towards what happened … today we have coordinated pseudo-political movements that espouse similar ideals, and that’s a great concern to us.”