Former NSW police minister Carl Scully and former NSW Police assistant commissioner Mark Goodwin have released a new book which seeks to “correct the history” about what really happened during the Cronulla riots.
The Cronulla riots took place in December 2005 and saw violence erupt on the streets of the beachside suburb with 26 people treated for injuries.
“Why write about the Cronulla riots when a lot has been written? The trouble is a lot of what’s been written is simply wrong, unfair and doesn’t stand the test of scrutiny,” Mr Scully told Sky News host Erin Molan.
“The other thing is, Mark and I had frightening intelligence brought to our attention that we dealt with the public just don’t know about. We want to share that.”
Mr Scully said the book also aims to challenge the notion the Cronulla and Sutherland area is an “enclave of bogan racists”.
“There were definitely racial taunts, but from both sides and it came and went,” he added.
“If it came and went, how could it have been driven by a hatred of the other because it never would have gone away?
“So we look to explain those racial taunts and racist acts as being driven by something else and that’s essentially the motivators for the book.”
