Was it more or less important than the French Revolution?

‘While the events in Waimate this week probably don't rank with the tearing down of the Berlin Wall, or the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmin Square, Tuesday night's meeting was nevertheless a watershed. The lesson: Don't mess with the people of Waimate’

- A newspaper editorial struggles to judge the scale of significance of a public meeting in the Waimate Town And Country Club (source: Timaru Herald, 10 March 2009)

[The meeting was to discuss keeping the town’s doctor by encouraging the council to sell the medical centre to the doctor]