Canberra: Australian Prime Minister John Howard has warned that racial violence will be met with the full force of the law, amidst fears of race riots on the country's national day on Thursday.
Racial clashes on Sydney beaches last month between white mobs and ethnic Arabs had brought "shame on all involved", Howard said in a nationally-broadcast address ahead of Australia Day.
With white supremacists calling for a rally at a flashpoint beach during Thursday's celebrations, Howard's speech on Wednesday to the National Press Club dealt at length with Australia's increasingly multicultural society.
There was no need "for either national self-flagellation or moral panic", over last month's riots, Howard said.
"The criminal behaviour of last December should be met with the full force of the law."
"Our response should reflect this nation's unswerving commitment to racial equality, coupled with an absolute determination to ensure that all sections of the Australian community are fully integrated into the mainstream of our national life."
The violence which erupted on Sydney's Cronulla Beach on December 11 led to retaliatory attacks, mainly by ethnic Lebanese men, in which churches, shops and cars were trashed.
Up to 25,000 people are expected to gather at Cronulla for Australia Day celebrations, and the far-right Australia First Party has called a rally to press for charges against white rioters to be dropped.
The premier of New South Wales, of which Sydney is the capital, announced shortly before Howard's speech that an extra 1,200 police would be deployed to deal with any outbreaks of violence.
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