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The Forum > Article Comments > Could riots happen in Melbourne? > Comments

Could riots happen in Melbourne? : Comments

By Waleed Aly, published 21/12/2005

Waleed Aly explains why a repetition of the Sydney riots is unlikely to occur in Melbourne.

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Bleached Bones on a Sunlit Beach

Sitting under a clear dark southern sky
Looking at a cross most sacred to the eye,
Pondering a crescent moon about to die;
Nay, next phase, in hope, a whole new pie.

In between the constant moving mix
Of lunar and stars the ages usually fix,
The fears and worries of a past reflex,
Now need reconcile bow and genuflect.

T'is a tiresome trouble of centuries past.
Arising in enlightened age, much aghast.
The mores of communities in differ repast,
Unfair and closed or egalitarian and vast?

Sitting under a clear dark southern sky
Looking at a cross most sacred to the eye
Pondering how fairness was cast in our die
By generations legacy left that does not lie.

The contrast of places imbibed in fear,
Of all that grand life provides so dear.
Other places far removed from the near.
The refuge offered but beliefs do sneer.

T’is a tiresome trouble of centuries past,
Arising in enlightened age; much aghast.
The blunted vision of prophecy ill asked,
To compromise the vision of a guided past.

Sitting under a clear dark southern sky
Looking at a cross most sacred to the eye
The crescent of false belief will pass us by
Our world of hope and faith will never die.

The scourge of dogma and bitter hate,
We’ve learned to reject, not just of late,
For we’ve travelled the paths mostly, mate,
And rejected them as an unfortunate fate.

We of the clear cross in the southern sky
Wondrous of all alternative we’ve come by.
One condition our egalitarianism is left undrowned
Like sacred Anzac bones in special Muslim groun
Posted by keith, Saturday, 24 December 2005 8:40:33 AM
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Zefstar, this is off topic but as you're a Lebanese Muslim I would like your feedback on this.

I worked for the National Parks for over seven years.

One of my jobs was to patrol the parks, checking tickets and such.

In two particular parks, frequented by predominantly Lebanese Muslim families, there were well sign posted pay and display machines where one could buy a ticket.

Whenever I went to these parks on busy days not one muslim vehicle would display a ticket. I knew they belonged to muslims because they always advertised the fact, they either had a medalion with allah akbar written in arabic, muslim prayer beads or a minature koran hanging off the rear view mirror. Also when I began recording details a large group of mid eastern males would start moving towards me.

I'd often park by the ticket machine and watch as muslim vehicle after muslim vehicle, slowed, looked at the machine and drove off, never did I see one pay.

Almost everyone else paid, among the muslims there was always 100% non-compliance, that's hundreds of vehicles every weekend.

They drove nice cars and sometimes had jetskis in tow, they weren't poor and not all of them had pension cards so they needed tickets. To me this says a lot about a particular culture. Can you give me your opinion on this? Why do they do it?

Irfan, Waleed, FH any answers?

Merry Christmas everyone.
Posted by CARNIFEX, Sunday, 25 December 2005 5:41:12 AM
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have to be quick, girlfriend is waiting for me for christmas dinner.
Anyway here is my feedback on your topic, i think if what you are saying is entirely true, then its more a problem of law enforcement, what you say is that you had the authority to do something to these people, for breaking the laws of the parks, but it seems like you didnt because large groups of them came towards you.
I live in melbourne myself and i can think of 2 occasions where i didnt pay for parking cause i was only gonna be one minute or because the parking meter had expired and i recieved penalties for both circumstances, the parking office wasn't shy towaqrds me cause i looked middle-eastern, and to be honesti learnt my lesson from such experiences, while im a person who always pays for his parking, i wont stop the car anywhere anymore, unless i am permitted to do so, and what i say to you is if you enforced your duties towards these people who 'never paid', i think the problem would have gone away
Posted by zEfStAr, Sunday, 25 December 2005 11:35:59 AM
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Have a very merry Christmas, Zefstar, perhaps you'll have time over the Christmas break or in the new year to respond to my previous post.
Posted by keith, Sunday, 25 December 2005 5:23:56 PM
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Sorry for my delay Keith, i will respond to you in what i think is accurate in my opinion.
I would just like to point out to people that while i am middle eastern myself, I do not doubt that there is a problem with some of the youth that is out there, i myself have been in situations with some of them myself, but at the same time i have also been in threatning situations with other races.
Now as far as it goes for your ham sandwiches at council meetings, I am very familiar with that topic. That specific topic has also affected people n areas such as Fawkner and Broadmeadows, eg.. KFC in Fawker does not sell any pork products at all, whether or not all other stores do, and Broadmeadows Shopping Centre at one stage, and i'm not to sure if this is still being enforced, did not allow the sale of any pork products. At first when I heard these new regulations, I myself thought it was very unfair to the rest off the community who are permitted to eat these foods, and I still do, but the simple fact of it is, you cant blame the muslims for enforcing such rules. This was all Marketing, it's a way to appeal to the community who in these specific areas, the majority are muslims.Hope you all had a safe and Merry Christmas.
Posted by zEfStAr, Sunday, 25 December 2005 11:36:00 PM
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Zefstar

Thanks for your answer. We weren't allowed and it was virtually impossible to fine them, we could only issue late payment notices which were no more than the price of a ticket. In the end the simplest method was to put someone at the gatehouse.

However we did fine when vehicles blocked emergency access gates and clearways. A lone mid eastern man would often not put up much of a arguement. As the numbers rose then the threats began.

The point I'm making is that when the gate was unmanned most people still paid for their ticket except for them. Often they were family people and that's not a good role model for their kids. Other visitors noticed that they weren't buying tickets too, which doesn't endear the public any further to them.
Posted by CARNIFEX, Monday, 26 December 2005 5:07:01 AM
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