Patchy Arguments

Wanganui seems to appear in the news more than any other New Zealand town. This could mean one of two things lots of terrible things happen there, OR Michael Laws' publicist is really pushing to get his face on screen a bit more. The May 7th edition of 3 News convinced me that the latter is the case.

Wanganui popped up into the news hour (again) with a report on the move to ban gang patches from being worn there. I've seen these stories before. They usually have a menacing soundtrack accompanying footage of colossal gang members sauntering through the streets and making rude hand gestures at the cameraman. This story was different though. It actually made reference to these conventions of previously aired Wanganui gang stories.

It also featured an interview with a woman who had lived in Wanganui her entire life, yet she had not seen a single patch-wearing gang member. Another man-on-the-street said that gangs didn't seem to be a problem either. But this was in stark contrast to the patch infested Wanganui that Mayor Michael Laws told us about. Wait a minute... Maybe Mayor Laws is talking about Wanganui and the others were in fact residents of Whanganui.

I kid. That's a whole different can of worms that I won't open here.

However, it was good to see that Wanganui was appearing in the news on this occasion for a different reason than a spelling debate. Yet the newsworthiness of this appearance was beginning to dissipate with the residents' testimony of a veritable gang drought.

But even if Mayor Laws is right, and gang members are prowling the streets of Wanganui 24/7, will the removal of their patches achieve anything? It seems Mr Laws thinks that the piece of material worn on the back of a gang member's jacket may hold mystical powers. Does he think that a law-abiding man becomes a senseless, criminal thug as soon as the patch is put on?

Of course I realise there is an argument that the patches are highly intimidating to non-gang affiliated members of the public. But let's be honest, if a gang member who wasn't wearing a patch approached me on the street, I would still be intimidated. They tend to ooze intimidation through their very being; the patch just informs me what his mascot is.

I guess that this particular 3 News report furthered my belief that this is a somewhat pointless issue. But perhaps that doesn't worry Michael Laws. Maybe it's just enough to be seen and heard discussing some 'serious issues' on a grown up television show like 'The News'.  Because let's face it, 'Dancing With the Stars' wasn't really the programme for that sort of carry on.