Whether it’s antisemitic pro-Palestinians or a gathering of ‘eshays’ in Logan in Queensland, our police forces have lost control of the streets. We’ve used up our smugness and we can no longer say, ‘We are so lucky that doesn’t happen here.’

Well, now it does.

We have imported the riots, but will we import the riot control equipment to enable our police forces to take back control? And if we do, will they use it on us instead of the criminals?

Regional Australians would be all too familiar with meth-fuelled criminals who drive around regional towns stealing sheep and breaking into businesses at night or during holidays. A while back, we had one idiot drag off a trailer hire kiosk thinking it was an ATM. The police were nowhere in sight but suddenly appeared the next day breath-testing everyone leaving the local pub. Not a good look.

We saw similar during the pandemic, with mums being arrested in their pyjamas for challenging the lockdowns on Facebook, and police pepper-spraying journalists reporting on anti-lockdown rallies.

Given this precedent, surprisingly little action has been taken by police when it came to antisemitism last year. More recently, at the weekend’s out-of-control eshay-fest, the Daily Mail reported that three police cars were damaged by eshays allegedly kicking in the doors.

Maybe police need something more substantial than cars? (Apparently, the police cars in Logan are hybrids. That way, they don’t contribute to climate change when attacked.)

It all comes down to the ‘optics’, or how it makes the police look to the public.

When Chrysler decided to end production of its 300 SRT V8 cars in right-hand drive, NSW Police were on the lookout for a replacement. The diesel BMW 530d was an obvious choice given it is cheaper to run than a Holden Commodore V8 over its lifetime. But senior police were concerned about the ‘optics’ of using BMW highway patrol cars, even though these are the cars of choice for their German counterparts.

I wonder what senior police would think of the optics of the German crowd control vehicle of choice, the Wasserwerfer 10000 (WaWe 10) mounted on a Mercedes-Benz Actros?

The ‘water thrower’ is armed with non-lethal water cannons and 10,000 litres of water. It has a sloping roof so protesters cannot get on top of the vehicle. Its ominous presence makes quite a statement when large crowds are gathering with riotous intent.

The first time I saw one was in Dresden in 2019. A considerable improvement on the older Wasserwerfer 9000, the newer unit has been deployed in all the major German cities.

During the Bundesliga, Germany’s primary soccer competition, we saw the water cannon while taking a bus. A train passed overhead, and we could hear the train coming – not from the noise of the train, but from the noise of the fans chanting as the train rumbled by.

Dresden police were taking no chances with hooligans.

South Korea adopts a similar approach to crowd control measures like masses of police in buses with riot shields waiting at the ready nearby. Other places like Japan have concertina crowd barriers fixed in strategic locations throughout the major cities. You’d have to be an idiot to cause a stir in any of these countries.

In Australia, our police share the same issues as their UK counterparts.

Boris Johnson tried to introduce the old Wasserwerfer 9000 when he was mayor of London in 2014 but Theresa May disallowed the use of water cannons in her role as Home Secretary. It was subsequently sold for scrap in 2018.

Although lately the British are reconsidering the use of water cannons with recent consultation suggesting the majority of people support the use of a water cannon by police.

Not surprisingly, one of the critiques of the WaWe 9000 was that it did not meet London’s emission standards. By the same logic, it is a shame the highway patrol decided to go with the BMW 530d. If only they’d gone with an EV, all diesel drivers in the region could simply drive off into the sunset in a slow-speed OJ Simpson-style chase. 250km later, the cop car would need to recharge and you’d be home free. But I digress.

We brought all the toxic things from overseas home, so now we should probably just give up and prepare for the worst. Woke ideologies are not encouraging our children to be proud of our nation’s traditions and customs and they are being taught to be helpless victims. And our police can’t deter young criminals because they might hurt their feelings.

If you think I am being harsh, I have two grandmothers, both in their nineties, living in Far North Queensland. In the last 12 months, one was robbed of her cash at an ATM by a child offender. The other was robbed in her house while she slept. Queensland is out of control.

And while the presence of a WaWe 10 might put the wind up Australian criminals, the way we are going, it would only be used on mums in their pyjamas who had posted a complaint about the government on Facebook. I’m not joking.

Senior Sergeant Arron Ottaway was apparently stood down by Queensland Police last month for doing his job, according to some. (You can sign the petition here.) He dared to stop criminals who were allegedly so keen to avert the law they drove for 18 minutes on the rims of a stolen vehicle after its tyres had been deflated with the use of stingers. The police are fighting with one hand tied behind their backs and governments are protecting criminals.

And here we are. We’ve imported Woke ideologies and people who hate Australia, all while dealing with a home-grown crime wave. Maybe it is time to bring in the WaWe 10? It’s not like the optics of our police services could get any worse.

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