We’re losing our streets. Nobody knows what to do about Hezbollah supporters in Australia

Jordan Knight I 3 October 2024 I Spectator Australia

Around the time of the Cronulla riots, the population of residents born in the Middle East numbered around 193,633. As of 2021, the MENA (Middle East, North African) population numbers around 800,000. Islam today is the second fastest growing religion in the country, making up 3 per cent of the total population.

On their own, these facts are harmless. But two events that occurred last week raise uncomfortable questions for policy makers. The first, was the release of the book The Cronulla Riots: The Inside Story, written by Mark Goodwin and Carl Scully, who were both put in charge of handling the outbreak of violence. The second – more graphic event – was the sight of Hezbollah flags and supporters marching through the streets of Melbourne. The message was simple: between 2006 and today, nothing’s really changed.

The Islamic Council of Victoria President stated that it is ‘a tiny minority’ who support Hezbollah. Which comes as small relief for Australians – because from little things, big things can grow. Remember, it wasn’t too long ago that an Australian-born Hezbollah fighter was killed in Lebanon. And last week, the Prime Minister naively complained that too many Australians were traveling to Lebanon during a conflict. Funny timing for a holiday, wouldn’t you say?

The problem here is exceedingly clear, and it is as true today as it was during the Cronulla riots. Australia has elements within it that have not fully assimilated – indeed, who refuse to assimilate – and nobody really knows what to do about it. In a society that promotes multiculturalism, in a country that maintains mass immigration at extreme levels, it is astoundingly simple to see how this weekend’s events could not only happen again, but worsen.

To truly understand the severity of the situation, you need to know how close Australia came to all-out warfare on our streets during the riots. Then Police Minister Carl Scully told Sky News Australia this week:

‘They don’t realise how bad it could have gotten. We had intelligence that Uzi machine guns had been bought. There was an attempt on the black market to buy a stolen military hand grenade.

‘I said, do I need to talk to the Premier, and ask him to request soldiers, and tanks, with the potential sanction of lethal force?’

Despite this, the scariest line of the segment was that the rioters simply ‘went away’. The subtext being that the fundamental cause of the riots wasn’t really addressed, it was simply that the people decided to stop rampaging.

Which works, up until they decide to start rampaging again, as we saw on October 7 at the Opera House, where police were once again overrun, outnumbered, and caught off guard. And which is exactly what happened last weekend in Melbourne.

It’s clear, for the sake of Australia’s social cohesion, that this can’t continue. Yet nobody as yet has put forward any serious policy solutions. The Opposition Leader Peter Dutton came out soon after suggesting that those who flew the flags should be deported. Which is a sufficiently strong stance, but sadly won’t happen, as the AFP confirmed quickly after. Tony Burke, the Immigration Minister, likewise came out with strong words, warning of visa cancellations for anyone inciting ‘discord’ in the country.

But these are just words. Deporting a few flag bearers doesn’t get to the heart of the fundamental problem that Australia is now facing. Put another way, it isn’t so much the Hezbollah supporters waving flags in the streets that you need to worry about, but the ones who share their sympathies, and are quietly embedded in our communities.

In many ways, immigration is a numbers game. Any small problem caused by immigration can grow out of proportion when numbers are indiscriminately lifted. And as is happening now, the problem can amplify when police numbers are stretched thin by a rapidly growing population. It’s a double whammy of diminishing state capacity, combined with a problem that’s quickly growing out of hand.

Multiculturalism – the idea that many competing cultures can exist in harmony with one another – is once again being challenged. The only solutions from our leaders so far have been to maintain their commitment to multiculturalism, while pretending to send a few flag wavers back. Policy makers who truly want to solve this problem should focus on fixing the problem at its core. Immigration isn’t just a one way ticket.

Author: Jordan Knight