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- 4 May 2005
Soccer Fans Violence
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Page: 15576
Mr PAUL PEARCE: My question without notice is directed to the Minister for Police. What is the Government response to community concerns about soccer violence?
Mr CARL SCULLY: As most people would be aware, on the past couple of weekends two very unfortunate incidents occurred between soccer clubs—one largely Croatian-backed, Sydney United, and one mostly Serbian supported, Bonnyrigg White Eagles. No reasonable person in our community would support the throwing of flares, missiles and objects at supporters of opposing teams. Ancient ethnic hatreds have absolutely no place in Australian society. Expression of those hatreds at a sporting fixture in Australia in 2005 is totally inappropriate and will not be tolerated.
Families ought to be able to go to a soccer match with their children and enjoy a soccer game without being fearful of riotous behaviour occurring due to tensions between supporters that could go back not just decades but perhaps centuries. We have indicated to clubs that if they are not able to control their supporters, that control will need to be exercised for them. As the member for Smithfield, I live near both of the clubs that I have mentioned. I am concerned for the vast majority of the hundreds of people who enjoy soccer and like to go along and support their teams. As Minister for Police, I am concerned that police have had to use considerable resources, time and effort to deal with these two matters.
I note that Tom Doumanis, President of Soccer New South Wales, is in the gallery. I personally congratulate Tom Doumanis for his enormous efforts to deal with these problems. It has taken quite some courage. Previous administrators would have been a little fearful about responding very strongly and decisively in such a turbulent environment. Obviously, people can get carried away and tempers can flare. Past administrators have been a bit concerned about taking such strong actions. Tom Doumanis has not. He has been bold and courageous, and has today announced a number of disciplinary measures in respect of the two clubs. I congratulate you, Tom. Well done. I fully support Tom Doumanis taking the initiative to appoint an independent panel, headed by Stepan Kerkyasharian, and also served by Irene Moss and Kevin Waller. The report was tabled earlier today and is available for those who wish to read it. It contains 52 recommendations, all of which have been accepted by Soccer New South Wales, which has acted upon it.
Earlier today Tom Doumanis announced the suspension of Sydney United for four matches, effectively ending their season. The matches of the Bonnyrigg White Eagles have been deferred pending the resolution of its internal disciplinary body, known as the General Purposes Tribunal, which will investigate the most recent incidents involving both clubs. The tribunal will deliver its findings and recommendations in the next two weeks. The panel also made recommendations about certain legislative changes. Earlier today, on behalf of the Government, I advised that we would introduce legislation to enable courts to impose bans on people attending sporting fixtures. People arrested at these sporting fixtures will be able to be charged with appropriate offences. If they are convicted, a magistrate will be able to ban those persons for periods of up to 5 years for a first offence and up to 10 years for a second offence.
This action shows that Soccer New South Wales, the Government and the police are fair dinkum about sending a very strong message to these communities. We are not going to tolerate this sort of behaviour. We will not allow the enjoyment of the soccer community to be spoilt by a small number of people. Later this year the A league kicks off. The eight teams will have geographical boundaries, not ethnic community boundaries. I was pleased to hear Tom Doumanis earlier today indicate, in respect of this competition, that there would be a restructure involving districts, rather than communities. I think that is a very strong message from the senior leadership in Soccer New South Wales that they are as fair dinkum as they possibly can be about disciplining supporters and clubs, and will take them out of the competition if need be. They are doing all they can to make sure that the organisation is structured in a way that enables people to go along to a match and enjoy their local district team playing soccer.
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