Judge Kevin Phillips made several strong comments in the Queenstown District Court on Monday, during his sentencing of a 21-year-old Queenstown labourer who admitted injuring another man with reckless disregard in an incident at a bar in the resort.
Judge Phillips' comments included an appeal to the community: ''We have ongoing violence in bars in Queenstown ... every weekend serious violence. When are we going to stop condoning it?''
And he told the offender: ''You can't even recall [the assault], you were so drunk. I just get appalled by young men acting in this violent way. Drunkenness is not an excuse and it certainly isn't a mitigating factor.''
The judge's words were harsh, and his frustration after presiding over numerous similar cases obvious.
A quick scan through this newspaper in the past few months clearly illustrates the prevalence of the problem: ''Teen likely to be jailed for assault'', ''Trio charged with assault'', ''Two charged with assault'', ''Man jailed for nightclub attack'', ''Punches alleged'', ''Assault in Octagon'', ''Man charged with assault'', ''Bar-brawl accused on bail'', ''Police want to interview witnesses to assault'', ''Doorman hit over head with bar stool'', ''Man charged after assault on holiday-maker''.
The headlines referred to late-night, alcohol-related incidents in or around bars in Queenstown and Dunedin.
This newspaper's district court reports from Dunedin, Queenstown, Balclutha and Alexandra during the same period were filled with similar cases.
The headlines listed did not include the dozens more involving sexual attacks, domestic violence, prison attacks, attacks on police, and other random attacks.
The repercussions of such violence are significant; resulting in death, serious and permanent injury, and fear and trauma for victims.
And while individuals must be held responsible for their actions, the judge is also right in questioning the community for condoning a culture of heavy drinking in which violence seems increasingly to feature as part of a night out.
It seems a cocktail of factors - alcohol availability and price, ready money, a culture of excess and permissiveness, a ''hard-man'' image, a focus on rights over responsibilities, and latent anger and aggression - have combined to create the perfect storm.
While individual responsibility is fundamental, a community approach is also vital, and Judge Phillips was right to ask what are ''we'' going to do about the problem.
For no-one lives and acts in isolation.
It is too easy to blame individuals, and say responsible individuals will suffer if there are restrictions around availability and licensing hours.
The problem is ''ours'', because any one of us could be directly affected by some aspect of the problem - including ending up bearing the brunt of a violent alcohol-fuelled outburst, or having a friend, relative or colleague affected.
It is all well and good asking individuals ''is your drinking OK?'' and telling them through advertising campaigns to ''just say no'' and ''ease up on the drink'' but when those individuals are surrounded by alcohol and entrenched attitudes towards it, how effective can those messages really be?
It is still early days as local councils apply new alcohol laws in their communities.
But family, friends, education providers, businesses, workplaces, community organisations and the media all have roles to play, alongside local and central government, in implementing those policies and promoting attitudes that provide safe and supporting communities.
A ''good night out'' should not be off the menu, and should be able to involve alcohol used responsibly.
It should be enjoyable and memorable - for the right reasons.
It should certainly not be at the expense of anyone else's safety, comfort or inconvenience, and should not finish in a police cell or A&E.
But we need to stop pointing the finger, and take a good, hard look at ourselves.
For if we don't make a change, the price to pay for our permissive culture and lax values will surely only become even uglier and more dangerous - and is likely to impact on more and more of us.
