"We're no worse than anywhere else."
It's a line that pops up occasionally.
In 2010-11 it floated to the surface around Whangarei Harbour's pollution problem.
Annually, more than 20,000 cubic metres of raw sewage was going into the harbour. It was diluted by rain, but still, not a good look. Or taste.
Ratepayers demanded to know how the hell we let it get to this, and what were we going to do about it?
Other towns had dirty harbours, so what, why should we? The public spoke, the district council listened, the problem got fixed.
In 2017, sectors of Auckland are now reacting to sewage discharge in harbours as we did in 2010.
What does that make us? Leaders, that's what.
This past week, we've heard "we're no worse than anywhere else" around gangs.
Five people were shot in Clark Rd, Kamo last week. Let's assume Grandpa wasn't cleaning his favourite rifle and it accidentally went off while five nephews were sitting in a perfectly aligned row watching the Blues.
Luckily, no one died.
There have been four gang-related killings in Northland in the past year.
But the gang situation in Northland is no worse than anywhere else, apparently.
If this is the norm, does that make it acceptable?
We need jobs in a region that needs more police.
And we have a gang economy within which people pay for dodgy business dealings with a bullet.
Think back to questions like "how the hell did we let it get to this?"
Funnily enough, in 2010 the answer was "no one ever asked us to fix it".
Unlike councils, local police can't make infrastructure decisions and set their own budgets. They can only keep going with what they have got.
Northland needs more police. Start demanding them now.
And if Bill English's Government says "no" and he adds "I'm no worse than Donald Trump" then we're in real trouble.
Road toll continues to rise in dark five days on our roads.