When working in a team policing unit in Wellington, we attended a large protest right here outside Parliament. Hundreds of angry people wanting to get up the steps and through the doors—maybe just to watch question time, but I'm not sure about that. The front line of protesters were organised. On command, they would all lift the steel barriers and move them gradually forward towards the steps. Six times they were told by a sergeant with a very loud voice helped by a loudhailer to not touch the barriers or swift action would be taken. The front-page photo in the Dominion Post the next day was of a distraught young woman holding a broken finger and an article on police violence. I learnt about the influence a member of Parliament can have when, a few months later, during another protest, I watched an Opposition education spokesperson stir up a large group of angry students into a frenzy. This resulted in an attempt to smash the doors of Treasury to gain entry. I thought then that he was very irresponsible. He went back to his cosy office, and, once again, police were portrayed unfairly in the inevitable aftermath.