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Some Aussie beaches become no-go zones
Date: 16/12/05
By Samantha Baden, Sonya Neufeld and Alyssa Braithwaite

Some of Australia's most famous beaches will be no-go zones this weekend after NSW police received credible threats of gang violence in the wake of Sydney's race riot.

Police Commissioner Ken Moroney on Friday urged people to stay away from beaches in Sydney, Wollongong, Newcastle and the Central Coast because of fears of a repeat of last Sunday's violence at Cronulla.

Police will have up to 2,000 officers on duty and will use tough new laws passed by NSW parliament this week to crack down on troublemakers.

"We have intelligence that people are intending to attend those areas to conduct themselves in a riotous manner armed with various weapons - baseball bats, sticks, poles and the like - and it is my intention to keep those communities safe," said Assistant Police Commissioner Mark Goodwin.

The dramatic warning followed more unrest in Sydney on Thursday night, with 19 people arrested, an elderly man bashed with a crowbar, a molotov cocktail thrown at police and one officer injured in a brawl.

Two men aged 24 and 23 were charged with making explosives with intent to injure after police found seven molotov cocktails in a unit at Cronulla unit on Thursday night.

Celebrities including Cate Blanchett, Peter Garrett, Bryan Brown and Claudia Karvan made a public plea for "a wave of tolerance".

"It's actually very clear and simple," Blanchett said at Coogee Beach.

"Violence and racism are bad. Whenever they occur they are to be condemned (and) we should not turn a blind eye to them."

Religious leaders also united in solidarity outside a church hall that was burned down in an incident feared linked to the racial violence.

But as Muslim leaders accused talkback radio of fuelling race tensions, Sydney 2GB radio announcer Brian Wilshire was forced to apologise for saying some Lebanese were inbred.

Warnings of new violence this weekend follow retaliatory "smash and bash" attacks in Sydney earlier this week and, since then, a wave of text messages and emails urging further race-based attacks.

Mr Moroney said credible intelligence received from the public indicated gangs would target Cronulla, Sydney's eastern beaches, Wollongong, Newcastle, and some Central Coast beaches.

"I simply seek a level of cooperation from individuals and from families who are travelling to these locations that on this occasion they assist the police by not going," he said.

NSW Premier Morris Iemma warned troublemakers would face harsh penalties as police prepared to use new powers passed in an emergency session of parliament on Thursday.

He also urged locals and visitors to stay away from the targeted locations, where police would set up roadblocks.

"Based on the credibility of those threats, travel to these areas should be avoided and residents living within the areas ... should not be at those locations," Mr Iemma said.

Under the new laws, police have the power to set up cordons in locked-down areas, search people and vehicles, close licensed premises and declare alcohol-free zones - measures aimed at curbing mob drunkenness and ending night-time raids by carloads of young Middle Eastern men.

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, while a new offence - assault during a riot - has also been introduced.

Copyright © 2005 AAP

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