Undie 500: Enough is Enough

Last Saturday night I spent several hours watching in anger and frustration as events unfolded in Castle St. Before I talk about those events I want to say that I'm no wowser. I realise that students, alcohol and antics have gone together for all time. But the Undie 500 has developed a tradition where the only way the evening will end is by the Police being forced by drunken students to don riot gear and disperse the crowd under a hail of glass. No amount of threats of expulsion or no diversion, no appeals to common sense will stop a small number of idiots from going crazy and starting a fracas.

And its not a defence for those others present to say "I didn't throw anything". No-one throws glass at police when no-one is watching. The voyeuristic bystanders provide the audience for those nutters, and are also culpable.

The police did a great job in incredibly difficult circumstances. The need to push students back into their flats came from the drunken impunity with which they stood in their front yards drinking, baiting and then throwing bottles.

Appeals to Canterbury University ENSOC students not to come south are likely to fall on deaf ears. Dunedin might not be able to prevent them coming but we need a circuit-breaker - a strategy to prevent the mass-gathering in Castle or Leith Sts that result in the mayhem. I propose a by-law or local Act to prevent gatherings at certain places and/or times in numbers exceeding say 15-20 people. Over this you are moved on or arrested. It sounds a bit draconian, and might only be needed for a couple of years to break the tradition of riots ending the evening.

Sure we can simultaneously focus on the root causes of this behaviour, i.e. liquor laws, youth drinking culture, alternative events etc., but this will take a long time. A short term strategy to manage the symptoms is necessary.

Let's not leave it too long lest we be saying the same things next year, just as we have for the last five years.