Student riots in Dunedin
If you, like me, heard this morning about the several hundred drunk and disorderly students in Dunedin who were dispersed by riot police on Saturday night and were wondering what had gone on, this post by John Hartevelt on Dunedin student magazine Critic’s blog sheds some much needed light on the events, and provides an interesting counterpoint to the account published in this morning’s Otago Daily Times.
Clearly there wasn’t any kind of political protest going on in this case, nor can the actions of those throwing glass bottles be condoned in the slightest, but having recently seen Patu! as part of the International Film Festival, my mind was drawn inevitably towards some of the less savoury incidents of 1981. I guess Dunedin students can count themselves lucky that police aren’t armed with tasers yet.
August 21st, 2006 at 6:19 pm
Frog: “my mind was drawn inevitably towards some of the less savoury incidents of 1981.”
Yes, have to say my mind was drawn to the same events over the weekend too, on Saturday walking past a hundred or so drunken Australian rugby fans on a pub crawl while on my way to the protest against the Auckland region DHB’s community diagnostic laboratory contract decision.
Missed the earlier taser protest in Auckland though - have to do the shopping for the tadpoles sometime, so a middle-aged frog can’t spend all day protesting any more.
August 22nd, 2006 at 9:33 am
Typical Green approach to law and order
Instead of blaming the drunk and disorderly students you try to insinuate the police are somehow to blame
no wonder you are only at 3%in the polls
the public is seeing through the rhetoric and all you are left with is the minority rent a crowd
SHAME
August 22nd, 2006 at 10:50 am
I guess Panda truly believes that the guy who was pepper sprayed in the face while he was hand cuffed on the ground deserved it.
Or Arthur Allen Thomas and everyone else who has been framed deserves it too.
Fantastic. As the person who wrote to the Herald in the weekend said ‘When the police earn back respect and trust then let’s buy them their tasers’.
August 22nd, 2006 at 11:25 am
This is one of the worst frog blogs I’ve seen in ages. The streets don’t belong to the students and the rest of us are sick and tired of feeling unsafe and intimidated by drunken louts. Stop apologising for ignorant, immature and criminal behaviour. They were just plain drunk and disorderly without a care for anyone else’s safety. The cops have my respect and most of NZs and we’re getting sick of them being harassed with this type of pathetic media coverage. It’s about time the students took responsibility for their actions and it’s about time the Greens started promoting personal responsibility.
August 22nd, 2006 at 11:37 am
I wasn’t condoning or apologising for the students’ behaviour, adw. Obviously there were very drunk people doing some very stupid and dangerous things, and the Police presence was clearly warranted. What I liked about Critic’s piece was the balance it provided. It raised some valid questions about the tactics the Police employed, which seem to have exacerbated rather than defused the situation. This is important, when, as you point out, public safety is at stake. And if provocation can lead Police to make poor decisions in this way, then adding tasers into the mix seems quite a dangerous proposition.
August 22nd, 2006 at 12:01 pm
As a student in Dunedin I feel it is safe to say that there are many students that don’t condone the behaviour of a certain minority that seem to regularly congregate on Castle St. Don’t get me wrong: I have no problem with the level of drunkenness of the student’s on the street and am happy that the council and local police are generally quite lenient about this. I’m even happy for the occassional couch burning to take place: it is somewhat a tradition down here. However, I think that there needs to be a line drawn between being drunk and being threatening, and that the latter should not be tolerated. The bottle throwing started in the first week of semester 1, in broad daylight. The students involved in this behaviour were never brought up on this. I can see the police’s point of view: they’d been lenient too long and had, perhaps, been pushed over the edge. I believe they were right to come in and try and break things up, and hopefully arrest a few of the threatening drunks (bottle-throwers and the like). I also think that they probably went too far. I hope the police can learn from this incident and that their superiors can ensure a more appropriate response in the future. Just like most students are not bottle-throwing drunken louts, most police are not power-corrupted abusive pricks.
Just one final note. One of John Hartevelt’s complaints was that the police moved *everyone* on, not just the bottle-throwers. However, looking at it from the police’s point of view: even if someone is not currently throwing bottles, does not preclude them from such behaviour once your back is turned to them, and so it may be advised to keep *all* of the students in front of you. This is unfortunate for those who were not involved in the dangerous behaviour, but I believe it was necessary.
August 22nd, 2006 at 2:21 pm
er panda and adw, where in frogs post does he or she condone or apologise for the drunk students’ behaviour?
I think maybe you read what you wanted to read. Perhaps you should read a bit more carefully and leave your assumptions at the door next time.
August 22nd, 2006 at 2:30 pm
Must really be upsetting Panda that John Hartevelt would have appeared to have written a factual piece based on actually being there. It even appeared to be even handed wondering at the actions of the drunken and also wondering what might have been if the police had a slightly more reasoned approach. If you want to use the strong blame word, I felt John Hartevelt tried to blame both groups for their contribution to the situation.
I am not sure why you bother reading Frog Blog at all (for a 3% party) . Would love to know why you do.
Thanks Frog for bringing the blog to our attention.
August 22nd, 2006 at 4:16 pm
I guess you only read newspapers ,magazines and blogs that adhere to your narrow slanted point of view
to paraphrase a well known phrase
“know your enemy”
I find it interesting to see what you greens are thinking and writing about
I know it might be a surprise to you to learn but us Neocons (to coin a term loved by the left) actually have considered our positions and are not just reactionary right wing Neanderthanls.
ummm the whole tone of frogs blog was to discredit the police actions I was hearted to read I wasn’t the only one here to see it that way
I was also pleased to see reference to Arthur Allen Thomas as of course every one know the police stuffed that one up !!!!
What you don’t mention is the 1000s of cases the police get correct every day
I also use the Arthur Allen Thomas case as a reason why NZ can never bring back the death penalty
lock the scum up for ever but if you kill them you bring them back if in the very very rare case a mistake is made
August 22nd, 2006 at 9:32 pm
“Slanted”…
thanks Panda for making all of our days. Now I know you are having us on. Such fire. Thanks again Panda.
August 23rd, 2006 at 8:36 am
Some students think they have a right (by the fact that they have studied hard, and are letting off steam), to vandalise other peoples property (eg in Ilam Chch). It costs the home owner maybe $100 to replace a letter box and the owner, feels (justifiably) put down.
Henry