As 2012 draws to a close Alan Jones is finally forced to publicly apologize for racist remarks which led to a full-scale riot in 2005

 

The text of the forced apology:

 

"On 28 April 2005 on my breakfast program on Radio 2GB, I broadcast comments about Lebanese males including Lebanese Muslims.

"The comments were made following a Channel Nine television current affairs show about the conduct of young Lebanese men in Hickson Road at the Rocks.

"The Administrative Decisions Tribunal has found that my comments incited serious contempt of Lebanese males including Lebanese Muslims.

"Those comments were in breach of the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act.

"I apologise for making those comments which I recognise were unlawful.

"I also apologise on behalf of Radio 2GB."

The reason for this apology:

13 In the decision granting leave for the complaint to proceed, the Tribunal characterised the complaint as relating to three comments made by Alan Jones (AJ): Ekermawi v Jones and Harbour Radio Pty Ltd t/as Radio 2 GB [2010] NSWADT 262 at [3]. Those comments are italicised. The immediate context is also included.

 

First comment

 

P: The police obviously can't or won't do anything about it. The politicians are not listening to us as usual. If need be, mate, I'll get babysitters for my kids on Sunday and I'll be down there.

AJ: OK. Now, let me tell you, P, let me just say this to you because - you know I'm the person that's led this charge here. Nobody wanted to know about North Cronulla. Now, it's gathered to this, we really have to be hands off here we don't want a situation whereby there's open warfare between people calling themselves Aussie whites and people calling themselves Lebs or whatever. We have at least alerted the government.

 

Second comment

 

AJ: And the text message urges Aussies yesterday to take revenge and Lebs and wogs. Now it's got pretty nasty when you start talking like this. It says, "Come to Cronulla this weekend to take revenge. This Sunday every Aussie in the Shire get down to North Cronulla to support the Leb and wog bashing day . . ."

I do understand what people are saying, let's give the police a chance to do the job. And I can understand the young blokes who've sent that text message yesterday, "Come to Cronulla this weekend to take revenge", it says. "This Sunday every Aussie in the Shire get down to North Cronulla to support the Leb and wog bashing day, bring your mates, let's show them that this is our beach and they're never welcome." Well, now that's not the way, I do understand what you're saying, P, but we've just got to back off a bit here. We're not giving any ground to them. I'm saying backing off and letting, backing off and let the police do the job.

 

Third comment

 

AJ: Yeah, well I've got, I've got a stack of emails in front of me, let me read you this one, "Alan, its not just a few Middle Eastern bastards at the weekend, its thousands. Cronulla is a very long beach and it's been taken over by this scum. It's not a few causing trouble. It's all of them, it's an attitude that you feel whenever you go there, it's just straight out racism against the skippies, it will not go away, the police have their hands tied - I'll come to that later in the program - reduce numbers and powers, I wish there was an answer".