Editorial
Editorial
O
n the 23rd of April, at approximately twelve-thirty in the morning, a south-bound train travelled from central Sydney to its outer-suburbs. As it travelled by the familiar sites of Erskineville, St. Peters and Sydenham, an unprovoked crime was taking place. Two Chinese international students travelling home from the city had fallen prey to a vicious pack of adolescent delinquents. In search of money and probably an excuse to be violent, the youths assaulted the two students, breaking the nose of one and leaving the other bloody and bruised. Worst of all, in the midst of the senseless violence not a single passenger on the train volunteered any assistance. There was a not a transit or police officer in sight. The youths had earlier sought to attack another woman on the train, who allegedly responded: ‘[Don’t get me, get the Asians… they have more money].’ I want to use this incident to make a couple of points, not only about the attack, but also about the crime rates in Sydney, the safety of people from violence in this city, and the measures needed to combat the current trends. Fixing Sydney’s problems is more important than ever before: if nothing is done, there is a real chance that people will begin to fear certain parts of the city, and Australia’s international reputation will be sullied.
by Louis Appleton
A Time for Action: The Moment Sydney Needs to Get Serious on Breaking Crime, Changing Attitudes and Protecting the Vulnerable 6
Turning first to the assault on the students, I think it is time that Australia makes it unequivocally clear that such behaviour is completely unacceptable. Although some people might say that the background and life-experiences of the teenagers teaches them nothing better, the reality is that these teenagers mounted an unprovoked and violent assault against two complete strangers, ostensibly for profit and probably because of their race. This behaviour cannot be tolerated under any circumstances, and when it happens swift and effective punishment must follow. There is certainly a time and a place for looking into the causes of juvenile delinquency, but when individuals or groups make the conscious choice to use violence the law must be quick to put an end to their destructiveness. These attacks (as well as earlier incidents such as the Indian-student attacks of 2009) go some way to explaining the most disturbing element of this train-saga: the unwillingness of anyone on the carriage to aid the helpless students. It takes a certain courage and heroism for an ordinary, unconnected person to physically stand in the face of violence done to others, especially when
there is a chance that doing so might invite harm onto them. However, in the train case not only did nobody physically intervene, but nobody made an attempt to contact police or rail officers, or to alert any authority about what was going on. Indeed, one woman who the juveniles had intended to attack first begged them to assail the international students and supposedly cited a racial preconception about their wealth as grounds for doing so. The problems that lead apparently many Sydney -siders to have this mentality are two-fold. Firstly, there is their fear of becoming victims of violence at the hands of thugs, gangsters and other criminals, and their lack of faith in an adequate security presence to protect them. Then there is the problem of the Australian education system, which in my view encourages individuals to more or less think only of themselves, and the legal system, which is often inclined to punish acts of good-Samaritanism. What we need to do is replace the blanket of fear and self-centredness with an ethic of looking out for others in trouble. We should encourage even the simplest of noble acts, such as calling the police or raising a protest. Beyond the train attacks, increasing rates of shootings and gang-related activity across the city is cowing people even further into acquiescence and submission. If young Australians are taught the values of protecting others, and standing up to intimidatory tactics, and the legal system steps up to its protective name, the foothold of thugs and criminals in this city will begin to lessen. As if this weren’t enough, a further consequence of inaction is that Australia’s international standing as an accepting and multicultural country will be tarnished. This could have an adverse impact on Australia’s bilateral relations with other nations, particularly China which is Australia’s largest export buyer. Then of course there is the matter of self-reflection. How can we embrace egalitarianism and multiculturalism ourselves as a nation, when the acts of our own people contradict such principles? There are undoubtedly more reasons why Sydney needs to tighten up security and improve the mentality of native Sydney-siders in the face of threatening and criminal behaviour. It needs to be done soon and it needs to be done properly. Australia needs to now step up and protect the people who come here to enjoy our country, to protect its economy, to protect our name as a good people and to smash the growing criminal elements on Sydney streets.
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