Am I alone in thinking that some of the Dunedin student rioters have a nerve feeling sorry for themselves and their potentially blemished brilliant careers? Does it occur to any of them that they've already had a lot more leeway than some poor, brown kid in South Auckland will ever get?
And no, I don't want to hear a thing about how university is the time to get this sort of thing out of your system. The idea that you'll leer it up at the expense of the community, all will be forgiven and you'll join the establishment and wait till daddy gets you a membership at the Northern Club has never washed with me. Once a fuckwit, always a fuckwit.
In the past, I've been mindful of the fact that Dunedin should be grateful for its student population, and the money and vitality it brings into what would otherwise be a very quiet town. It has seemed that the city's newspaper, and its council, too often want to see students as the enemy. But it seems now, thanks to the actions of a minority, that they have a point.
It may be that innocent bystanders copped some pepper spray, but it's hard to criticise the police when they're under fire with bricks and bottles, and when dickheads are setting light to things.
I even find myself in the unexpected position of agreeing with Judith Collins. Yikes.
Anyway, here's last night's rather misconceived Close Up live cross from Castle Street.
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Also: we have two interesting topics on Media7 this week.
One is a return to Fiji – where both Radio NZ's Richard Pamatatau and Maori Television's Julian Wilcox have done excellent reporting recently. Wilcox' interview with Frank Bainimarama, which screened last night on Native Affairs (and will presumably appear here at some point) was a study in tension, and Pamatatau went off the beaten track for his stories. They'll both be on a panel.
Also, we'll look at the tenth anniversary of the 100% Pure New Zealand brand. Is it due for a refresh? And should we feel bad about the gap between the "pure" marketing and the grubby reality?
If you'd like to join us from 5pm tomorrow for the recording at TVNZ, hit "reply" and let me know.