There's a lot of statements of the bleeding obvious I could make about the quite stomach-turning race riots in Cronulla (and in Maroubra, Brighton le-Sands, Woolooware, Tempe and Lakemba) over the past few days. While race-based rioting in indigenous ghettos is, sadly, nothing new, this gang versus gang warfare is nothing like anything seen in modern Australia. Just twenty kilometres from where I live. I'll say my bit on the issue further on. Race is an issue here, but not the central one. Nor is it just, as conservative political leaders have been saying, a law-and-order issue.

This is going to be a long post, so I've decided to serialise it. I'll start with a reproduction of an eyewitness account of Sunday's riot in Cronulla, that will be followed by some links to media coverage, notably from the ABC, some quotes from politicians and others in positions of responsibility, and finally my own take on matters.