Dondi.
Posted on 02/04/2006 12:29:18 AM PST by Fair Go
The stabbing of six people by a gang of youths at Sydney's Bondi Beach has raised the spectre of further beachside violence and prompted claims police are not adequately resourced to deal with the threat.
The six men were injured after one group, described as being of Middle Eastern or Mediterranean appearance and armed with knives and bottles, set upon the other near the Bondi Pavilion about midnight (AEDT), police said.
The attackers had earlier left Bondi after an altercation with the other group, only to return armed and in two vehicles a short time later.
The injured, all men in their late teens and early 20s, suffered multiple stab wounds to the neck, legs, back and arms.
Five were taken to Prince of Wales Hospital and one to St Vincent's Hospital. Two were seriously injured, police said.
It was the first serious violent incident on Sydney's beaches since the Cronulla riot on December 11 and the subsequent revenge attacks.
As police hunted for suspects, the NSW opposition seized on the attack as proof the government had starved police of the resources needed to tackle violent crime, after earlier claims the government had instructed police to go "soft" on Middle-Eastern gangs.
Opposition leader Peter Debnam said he was concerned the attack took place at a time when there was an increased police presence on Sydney's beaches.
"We have six people stabbed on what's probably Australia's most famous beach, right in the heart of what's supposed to be a police operation," a spokesman for Mr Debnam said.
"We're not having a go at the frontline police but it's the responsibility of the government to make sure they're properly resourced."
Despite concerns this summer about violence on Sydney's beaches in the wake of December's racial unrest, police said it was unlikely the Bondi attack was racially motivated.
"It's too early to rule anything in or out but at this stage there's no evidence to suggest it was," a spokeswoman said.
Witnesses have told police the victims were from a range of racial backgrounds.
Police said they had not yet made any arrests but were continuing to interview witnesses and would speak to the victims once they had recovered sufficiently from their injuries.
Bondi police were looking into the assault but the investigation did not involve officers attached to Strike Force Enoggera, police said.
A spokesman for Police Minister Carl Scully rejected accusations of under-resourcing, saying police numbers in NSW were well above authorised levels.
The government had recruited a further 598 officers last year and the police attrition rate was among the lowest in the public sector, he said.
Waverley mayor Mora Main said she was deeply concerned about the attack.
"We work co-operatively with the police all the time and nothing like this has ever happened for at least a couple of years, so we are very concerned and we will be calling for a full report from them," she told ABC Radio.
Some suitable immigrants for New Zealand?
I am sick of reading about violence involving gangs of "Middle Eastern appearance". Time to move the gangs on - perhaps to "more tolerant" places such as New Zealand or the Great White North.
***Time to give the Muslim gangs swimming exercises in the infamous shark invested bay waters of Australia.
Or in some waters infested with salt water crocs!
Gang members should be shark bait.
Oh well Kiwis are hypocrites. If they play cricket or more importantly rugby, and eat meat pies and/or fish and chips they will be welcomed with open arms.
But it seems that these lebanese Lions will only eat doner kebab and more importantly they want to pray to Mecca five times a day. The Kiwi lefties will throw them out of the country five minutes after they land.
The truth is, Kiwis love to point out how other countries fail to uphold multiculturalism, "but it doesn't apply to New Zealand because our national circumstances are entirely different."
Dondi.
I think if the majority of Aussies had their say these creeps would be out. At times up to 20 gang members have set upon an isolated individual and with those odds stacked aginst you it is very hard to do much. A change of government in New South Wales will probably do wonders.
Come to think of it, this reminds me very much of another country that shall remain nameless.
What these creeps need are a few bouncers from an Aussie cricket team.
Australia does have a detention system for illegal arrivals and that has widespread support. I don't think Labor could dismantle it. The immigrants that are the problem are the ones that arrived from Lebanon during the civil war in the 1970s - or should I say their offspring. There are no problems with other groups. The problem is also confined mainly to Sydney where there is a Labor government and the police are under state control. A change of government there could do wonders and an election is due in 2007.
Probably being sought from the Kiwi equivalent of Dunkin Doughnuts.
It's getting pretty damned blatant that modern police forces have no other function than to keep the productive cattle in line. They sure aren't any use against predators.
In NSW they have come under far too much political control. The immportance of the separation of powers has been ignored. What is needed is for the politicians to keep out and the police to be allowed to get on with their job of upholding the law. Also the appointment of judges and magistrates needs much greater scrutiny.
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