The New South Wales parliament has been recalled from its Christmas break to give police extra powers after racial violence hit Sydney for a second night.
The recall came as police announced plans to more than treble their deployment in troubled suburban areas to 450 officers, amid fears of new outbreaks of violence tonight.
Dozens of people have been injured and arrested since a rampaging mob attacked people of Middle Eastern appearance, mostly Lebanese, on a beach last Sunday.
Last night, seven people were injured and 11 were arrested as car-loads of men swept into the suburb of Cronulla.
Residents said around 30 to 40 cars full of young men armed with baseball bats and crowbars drove through the suburb, smashing shop-windows and parked cars.
Gunshots were heard but there were no reports of casualties.
In the adjacent suburb of Brighton-Le-Sands, crowds threw rocks at police cars and passing motorists before dispersing as riot police converged on the area.
In the mainly Muslim suburb of Lakemba, about 500 young people blocked roads near the local mosque after evening prayers, believing an attack was imminent.
They later dispersed, some hurling rocks at police.
State premier Morris Iemma told a news conference that the parliament would be asked to grant police the power to force liquor outlets to close in times of social unrest and establish 'lockdown zones' to allow them to take command of an area.
Police would also have the power to confiscate vehicles driven by those involved in rioting, while jail terms for riot offences would be trebled from five to 15 years.
