The text messages circulating around Sydney's Sutherland shire in early December 2005 explained precisely the purpose of the gathering. Just a reminder that Cronulla's 1st wog bashing day is still on this Sunday, one read. Chinks bashing day is on the 27th and the Jews are booked in for early January. On Sunday 11 December, more than 5,000 people, mostly young men, swarmed Cronulla beach. They wore Australian flags as capes, they had drawn the Eureka flag on their bodies.
We are shutting up shop. We refuse to produce, to consume, to run, to servewhen the country is brought to a halt, the real power will appear. It is in our hands. The first demand of the more radical Bloquers is to be paid by the state for staying in bed indefinitely. Others, less ambitious, seem to envisage only a one-day protest.