Otago University Students Association president Logan Edgar
advises students near the University Union about a planned
protest today. Photo by Peter McIntosh.
It was "not my finest hour", Otago University Students'
Association president Logan Edgar says of a post containing
expletives he made on the Facebook page of Act New Zealand
finance spokesman Sir Roger Douglas.
Mr Edgar, who has vigorously opposed the introduction of
voluntary student membership, said he would like to apologise
to Sir Roger for the comments, which, he said, he posted "in
the heat of the moment" near the end of a parliamentary
debate on Act's Education (Freedom of Association) Amendment
Bill on Wednesday.
The post, left at 8.42pm, said: "Get f... you dinosaur ...
just trying to give yourself a legacy because you know you're
getting too old. You should actually debate the Bill with
Pete [Hodgson] or Grant [Robertson] ... you'd get torn to
shreds. [expletive]."
Mr Edgar said the comment was on the page for about a minute
before he took it down.
However, a copy was sent to the page's administrator and the
comment appeared on the Kiwiblog site last night.
Mr Edgar said last night he knew his behaviour was not
acceptable from someone in his position. "It was not my
finest hour. But at the end of the day, I am a student, and
we make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes."
He would "definitely" apologise to Sir Roger, in either
another post on his Facebook page or an email.
He said he had informed the OUSA about the incident, and it
was not taking any action.
Although Act and Kiwiblog last night called his leadership
into question, he said he did not think Otago students would
listen.
Sir Roger was unavailable last night but the Bill's sponsor,
Act MP Heather Roy, said she found the comment "pretty
appalling" from someone in such a position of authority.
Mr Edgar posted a comment on her Facebook page too, but it
was not obscene.
Mr Edgar needed to differentiate between his persona and what
he said as OUSA president, she said.
"I would have thought it would be prudent of the president of
the OUSA to be careful about what he says."
He was in charge of a multimillion-dollar business, which
required transparency from its leader, and represented the
largest student body in New Zealand.
"He should be taking those responsibilities very seriously. I
have to question whether Logan is up to the job."
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