The NSW Government is putting in place a plan to maintain community harmony should there be community unrest or incidents of harassment resulting from any possible Australian involvement in a conflict with Iraq and the terrorist attack in Bali.

I have directed the Community Relations Commission to establish a Community Harmony Reference group to develop a coordinated and rapid response should there be a breakdown in community harmony. This Reference Group will be chaired by the Community Relations Commission and include representatives from government agencies, the media, and community.

The Community Relations Commission has experience in coordinating government agencies and community representatives in these circumstances. This was the case during the 1991 Gulf war and in the aftermath of the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States .

As a first step I have instructed the Community Relations Commission to set up a multilingual telephone hotline to monitor and respond to incidents of harassment and violence in the community.

I ask NSW Government agencies to cooperate and assist the Commission in this initiative.

Bob Carr MP
Premier

Contact: Richard Acheson
Phone: (02) 9716 2219
Fax:(02) 9716 2299
Date: 15 October 2002