Dubbed as Cronulla 2230, the game resembles the iconic Monopoly board game, and can be downloaded from the Internet.
SYDNEY: As temperatures soar and Sydneysiders head to swim and surf, there is a growing unease on the city’s many beaches, even as the New South Wales state government battles to ban a new Monopoly-style board game glorifying the race riots of last December in Sydney’s beach suburb of Cronulla.
Dubbed as Cronulla 2230, the game resembles the iconic Monopoly board game, and can be downloaded from the Internet. The 71 “Aussie Luck Cards” have serious racial overtones.
One says, “Indian taxi driver attacks Aussie passengers, pay $15”. Another one says, “Protect Aussie women from being raped by Muslim Pakistanis, pay $150” Others have references to Lebanese, Filipinos, Chinese and Asian immigrants.
The object of the game is to become the wealthiest person in the Sutherland Shire through buying, renting, and selling of property.
Players must then use the proceeds of their virtual deals to fund “patriotic organisations”, including real-life nationalist groups such as Australia First and the Patriotic Youth League, according to the game website. It incites players to “Win Back Australia!” and includes racist slogans such as “We grew here! You flew here.”
New South Wales Premier Morris Iemma has condemned the board game saying, “It’s hateful and it can incite people. Its garbage and it belongs in the trash bin. Australia First is a racist, extremist organisation who will seek to engender hatred and fear and cause trouble.”
Australia First claims not to be responsible, but its website carries a link to the game. Pankaj Dheer, an Indian taxi driver says, “About 40 per cent of the taxi drivers are from the subcontinent. While I don’t feel safe in some areas, most parts of Sydney are safer than driving a taxi in many other cities of the world.”
Is Sydney’s safe haven been shaken? Today, police patrolling has been increased following violence in Manly and Maroubra beaches. There have been increasing racist taunts at Australian sporting grounds. Last year’s violence between white residents and Middle Eastern youths had made international media headlines, exposing the deepening crevice of Australian society.
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