Australian race-riot board game may be banned

CANBERRA, Oct 17 (Reuters) A board game glorifying race riots that gripped Sydney's beaches nearly a year ago might be banned to prevent further violence, Australian authorities said today.

The game called ''Cronulla Monopoly'' invites players to ''Win back Australia'' by buying and selling land in the southern beach suburbs hardest-hit by clashes last December between white Australian youths and ethnic-Lebanese Australians.

A far-right Web site promoting the game said it was ''dedicated to all those who stood up for the freedoms of all fair dinkum (real) Aussies''.

''The board game for Aussies, commemorating the efforts of all those who had the guts to come along to the rally at Cronulla on 11th December 2005 to defend the Aussie way of life,'' it said.

A ''reclaim the beach'' rally on December 11 last year sparked days of racial attacks by demonstrators wearing slogans such as ''We Grew Here, You Flew Here'' and ''Aussie Pride''.

Cars, shops and churches were damaged in the violence, which followed an attack on a pair of beach lifeguards.

Police later identified members of far-right organisations in the crowds, including the Australia First Party and the Patriotic Youth League, which has links to the US-based skinhead group Volksfront and the British National Party.

The Australia First Party today carried an internet link to the board game, but denied responsibility for designing it, warning the game could breach national anti-discrimination laws.

The game, which can be downloaded free or printed from the Web site, asks winners to donate to right-wing political parties who would enter parliament and ''win back Australia''.

Almost a quarter of Australians were born overseas.

''One would not want to be arrested for playing a board game (surely these laws have the smell of the KGB and Gestapo about them),'' the Australia First Party said on the Web site.

New South Wales state Premier Morris Iemma said he wanted the game banned because it glorifies violence.

''It promotes acts of violence against members of the community, simple as that, and not only promotes it, glorifies it, encourages, incites people to engage in acts of violence,'' Iemma told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

The game's release came as Sydney police investigated a gang attack on a group of ethnic Asian and Middle Eastern Australians at a beach just north of where last year's violence took place.

Police have mounted special summer patrols of Sydney's beaches, including dog units, roadside vehicle checks and aerial surveillance, to prevent a recurrence of last year's violence.

''Our beaches are there for everyone to enjoy, regardless of their creed or colour,'' police minister Carl Scully said.

Reuters SP GC0957