Paula “tough lady” Bennett
Anyone who knows Paula Bennett won’t be surprised by the Herald story that she waded into a maul of fighting young people to break it up. She is a true Westie who takes direct action.
Travel consultant Eunice Matanibukaca said she was heading home when she heard swearing and yelling and saw girls “fighting, punching each other”.
“I saw Paula coming. I could just see in her face that she wanted to get to them. She just looked so angry, like she wanted all the kids to go – she just went into mum mode.”
Ms Matanibukaca said Ms Bennett headed straight towards the girls and physically forced them apart, before telling the crowd to move along.
Shop owner Vivian Wang also praised the “tough lady” who stopped the fight.
I sense a new nickname.
Ms Bennett said it all lasted “a few minutes”. A shopkeeper told her he had called the police. As one group was beginning to move away mall security arrived, and a few minutes later the police also turned up.
She said none of the fighters hit her, but she got called some juicy names. “It was language I wouldn’t use – and I’m a Westie.”
Goodness, it must have been colourful then.
Mayor Harvey told the Herald he had once broken up a fight and knew it could be frightening.
“I applaud her. It might not seem so wise in the cold, hard light of day – someone might stab you; you don’t know what they’ve got – but you just can’t let those things happen.”
He said he believed the council was doing all it could to keep the area safe. As well as “an MP who wades in and stops fights”, there were two youth centres nearby – one run by the council and the other by the Harawira family.
Yes, relaying on the intervention fo the local MP is not the best long-term solution 
Ms Bennett said she would try to find a solution, perhaps a wider range of holiday programmes. “This wasn’t something new. A lot of them were really young and it quite alarmed me how young they were. The question is, do their families know where they are?
“We’re not talking about them hanging out for an hour. We’re talking about them hanging out for many hours over lots of days.”
Yes, theri parents are part of the solution.
January 20th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Good on her , very brave, also very dangerous considering what weapons some feral teens carry these days, but brave all the same.
Is it possible to clone Paula and then replace the wimpy Christchurch police with fully equipped Paula’s who could then be used to simply enforce current law on the boy racers? The multiple Ms Bennetts would have the chronic boy racer problem cleaned up in about 48 hours.
January 20th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
It’s illegal to restrain children for the purposes of correction.
January 20th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Gutsy ‘lady’ is our Paula. Very easy to stand back and say its not my problem and certainly there was degree of risk in what she did. But clearly she weighed the options and decided to intervene and good on her for having the ‘balls’ to do so.
There will be the predictable criticism that as a Minister of the Crown she should have shyed off; that even as a private citizen she should have waited until the law arrived.
Well sorry, its a bit like arguing that when you see a drowning person at the beach you should wait until the lifeguards arrive even though you know they’re five minutes away.
Some people watch it happen; others make it happen and we are all the more better for them.
But I don’t think I would want to tangle with Paula B, ever.
January 20th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Its great to see a Minister not only talking the talk when it comes to crime and youth offending but actually walking the walk. Hopefully it inspires other citizens to show the intestinal fortitude to act as well, rather than just sitting on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to handle the problem.
January 20th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Richard the last thing ChCh police want is to clean up the “boy racer” problem, or any other “problem” that allows them a chance to influence law instead of doing their job and enforce it.
Well done that lady.
I do note however that although the skirmishes appear to have been going on for some time and the children had been hanging around the area and behaving aggressively for days (according to one report I read) security staff and police arrived just after things settled down.
Coincidence?
January 20th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
I would say the parents are part of the problem.
January 20th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
Like coge I rather suspect the best place to start would be with the tree the little crapapples fell from.
January 20th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
“Now John…”
“Yes Paula…”
“About the role of Prime Minister in this National-led government…”
“Yes Paula…”
“What I mean is… how would you like the other arm broken?”
January 20th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
her new nickname is paula ‘bovver’ bennett..
..http://whoar.co.nz/2009/holy-thumping-ministers-batman/
..and i think coge is being a bit hard on bennetts’ parents there..eh..?
phil(whoar.co.nz)
January 20th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
I broke up a fight between two teenagers outside Queensgate six months ago. One would have kicked the others butt all over the place if I hadn’t. Fortunately, after a bit of effort separating them he listened to me and his girlfriend and calmed down.
But what really got me was the way dozens of people just walked past and laughed, not even bothering to ring the police.
January 20th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
and what’s next..?
a minister of energy going out and arm-wrestling gouging power companies into submission..?
and did anyone hear bill english on nat-rad this morning..?
..whoar..!..go to the website..and have a listen..!
..he gave the impression of one not having a clue what to do about ‘le meltdown’..
..and just stuck to his pre-election burble/mantra of ‘tax cuts’..
..he said nothing..
..and gave every indicarion of being all at sea..
phil(whoar.co.nz)
..t’was most disturbing/unsettling…
..sitting and pondering the fact he would be finance minister for the next three years..
January 20th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
and of course…
paula ‘bovver’ bennett…and ‘big gezza’..
..must now officialy be regarded as nationals’ ‘heavy crew’..
..eh..?
phil(whoar.co.nz)
January 20th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
She’s a natural candidate for Speaker of the House. Question time might result in some questions being answered. Shame the party stellenbosched Lockwood into the position before her conflict resolution skills became so apparent
January 20th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
ahh god.. ive heard the term “mum mode” all freakin day.. fingers crossed it doesnt continue.
January 20th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Looks like Trevor Mallard now has some real competition in the House.
January 20th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
Your new nickname is crapweasle.
Difference is yours will stick.
January 20th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
and yours’…’mad muzza’..has stuck like glue..eh..?
phil(whoar.co.nz)
January 20th, 2009 at 3:30 pm
Go, Paula! I did the same thing once, stopped a fight between two young college boys. Same as Michael E above said, no one else was stepping forward to do anything and it was becoming dangerous, egged on by other students. Turned out okay, but what still makes me laugh was as I was in the midst of the scene, all barefoot and screeching my head off at everyone in the vicinity, out of the corner of my eye I see my poor daughter slinking round the outskirts of the crowd, trying to unobtrusively get in the car and hide before anyone realised she was with me!
January 20th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
You may be interested in the shot of Paula Bennett immediately after the foray. Exclusive: http://bit.ly/idLI
January 20th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Yeah everyones using it … in your head crapweasle.
To be fair it really is quite crowded in there though.
January 20th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
DARN, no bitch slap
January 20th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
Great to see a real lady get in and help stop anti social behaviour, unlike the vindictive, dangerous and vicious feminazi childrens commissioner Cindy Kiroooo.
I remember saying well done, Laurie O’Reilly, Commissioner for Children. Those were the days before the sisterhood takeover.
January 20th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
If it is a step backward from the “feminazi” tyranny then it is a pretty small one. Is chivalry dead? Where were the good morally-upright, Right-voting menfolk?
All of this “Women can do anything – even wade in and stop fights” is just undermining the role of fathers in our society and it’s a damn feminist conspiracy.
January 20th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
I hope this Paula lady can fix CYFS, which has become dangerous for many children. Thank you Ms Dyson. Have another one, burp!
Ratshit – didn’t clever Trevor brawl in Parliament?
January 20th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
In fairness, Ratty, it was a group of girls fighting. Paula didn’t do anything so disrespectful as to get in the way of boys being boys …
January 20th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
Who tried to stop the Mallard Mauler? Love to see the video. Boys will be boys, but hit a girl and you do 5 years hardcore in the slammer. What balance. Yeah right. Have another latte AG and pop some more lefty pills.
January 20th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
“but hit a girl and you do 5 years hardcore in the slammer. ”
Did you? Sorry to hear it!
January 20th, 2009 at 5:32 pm
Don’t twist things you dropkick lefty internet stain. Fumigate the place as the lefty blowflies are swarming.
[DPF: And that is enough colour in the language please]
January 20th, 2009 at 5:35 pm
Oh, sorry … thought you were taking a moment to share with us. My mistake. You’re just dribbling.
January 20th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
AG is the twin sister of dear sonic.
They get their pathetic kicks by pushing the karma button. What a boring existence. I suppose all communists are deranged.
January 20th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
Murray, when the moron claims this as a sense of accomplishment…….
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2009/01/general_debate_17_january_2009.html#comment-525876
“ (aka..’how i smoked seven joints at the big day out..right under the noses of pot-smoker-hunting police/security ‘goons’..)”
there has to be a more appropriate nickname for him?
January 20th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
Loved seeing the girls fight on One News tonight. So hard until someone steps in and gives them the telling off they needed a dozen years ago.
I think it was probably the shock of someone actually stepping to stop the “fight” that made them stop. All people who walk by and mutter to themselves “Someone should do something…”, all the while doing nothing themselves.
Well done Paula.
She starts as she means to go on!
January 20th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
goodgod at 1.04 pm “It’s illegal to restrain children for the purposes of correction.”
Ah no. In fact, Ms Bennett’s behaviour here would be justified under the new s 59 because it was
“reasonable in the circumstances and [was] for the purpose of—
(a)preventing or minimising harm to the child or another person; or
(b)preventing the child from engaging or continuing to engage in conduct that amounts to a criminal offence; or
(c)preventing the child from engaging or continuing to engage in offensive or disruptive behaviour; or
don’t buy into the rhetoric if you haven’t actually read the provision
January 20th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
I don’t think this was coincidence.
Ms Bennett said she knew the atmosphere had been brewing for days and she was ready when it blew.
She would look a formidable lady to those girls.
Early school term I see this year. Last week of Jan.
Boot camps next year. A breath of fresh air for many communities.
But education for detained youth.
January 21st, 2009 at 12:42 am
Paula wasn’t always a Westie – worked for Murray in ECB – resident in Milford – BBQs by the sea and very lovely.
Such a transition – but the Westies believe!!
January 21st, 2009 at 7:22 am
Good on Paula, shame the resident commie trolls don’t like to see social issues being sorted out.
-valeriusterminus
-ag
January 23rd, 2009 at 4:01 pm
She’s a legend, firstly for cancelling the Families Commission conference, secondly for busting up this skankfight. We’ve got so used to politicians that sit on their dates term after term doing absolutely nothing that everyone blinks and goes WTF when one of them actually pulls finger and does something. Hopefully some of the more crusty old National MP’s will follow her lead and start performing. Go Paula, you da bomb baby.