Australia retains crown as #1 nation in the world for “citizen policing” after teen surfers threatened with massive fines for opening lagoon entrances to create standing waves, “(It’s) illegal and can be dangerous for members of the public!”

Australia's rep as a nation of rule-flouting larrikins takes fatal blow!

A big part of the white Australian psyche is a supposed rebel spirit borne from its convict beginnings in the nineteenth century, men, women, kids ripped from the motherland and thrust into a wild, tough country.

The truth is very different, of course.

Australia is marked by its slavish adherence to rules, whether its water restrictions (citizen police diligently telephoning authorities if a water is being unlawfully watered), driving at a determined speed limit or ensuring music is neither heard nor played after nine pm.

A country of docile rule-followers, demonstrated most recently by the population’s response to the most draconian pandemic lockdowns in the world, the few protesters quickly dispersed with rubber bullets and swarms of police arresting the uncooperative.

And, all aided and abetted by armies of citizen police armed with sharp eyes and telephones.

After an ungodly amount of rain on Australia’s east coast, surfers on Sydney’s northern beaches used shovels to open up lagoons to create standing waves, something that’s been happening for decades.

Real good, real clean fun,.

Not any more. Citizen cops, along with local councillors, have combined to call for a shutdown of the “illegal” activity, kids threatened with $1100 fines if they take up a shovel.

The warming came after a member of Dee Why’s citizen police force “saw people, including four teens, with spades digging a channel to the ocean from Dee Why Lagoon on Saturday, September 10… he witnessed the the two adults watching the teenagers, aged 12 to 14, create a metre-wide trench. The resident, who asked not to be named, told the Manly Daily that the trench soon opened to close to 4m wide and started funnelling a large flow of water. ‘It created a large wave that the children were surfing on with surfboards. I asked one parent what they were doing and the man said ‘I know some people don’t like it, but it’s fun for the kids and people have been doing it here for years’. I was told I’m part of the fun police.’”

The council, for its part, warned, “Unauthorised lagoon openings are illegal and can be dangerous for members of the public. The water outflow often develops into ‘standing waves’, with particularly dangerous downward pressure. This can trap even strong swimmers.”