Byelection waiting on Hawkins' move

George Hawkins. Photo / Paul Estcourt

The hopefuls are lining up for the safe Labour Party seat of Manurewa after George Hawkins confirmed he would retire from Parliament.

Mr Hawkins was elected to the Manurewa Local Board on Saturday, opening up the possibility of a byelection after he said he would leave Parliament.

Yesterday, he said he was yet to decide whether to spark a byelection by leaving immediately. He said he would talk to his local Manurewa team to see what their expectations were, and to the Labour caucus, before making a decision.

If he remains in Parliament until six months before the election, no byelection would be required.

Mr Hawkins' retirement after seven terms in Parliament will open up another sought-after seat - his majority in 2008 was 6726.

Yesterday, Louisa Wall confirmed she was interested in the seat. The 37-year-old became a list MP in February 2008 when she replaced retiring MP Ann Hartley. However, she was ranked too low on the list to return at the November 2008 election, when she stood in the Maori seat of Tamaki Makaurau, held by Pita Sharples for the Maori Party.

Jerome Mika of the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union has also expressed an interest, saying Labour needs to increase its Pacific representation.

He is active in the party's Pacific arm and is well known in the Samoan community.

Labour president Andrew Little said the party knew of the possibility of a byelection - the third so far this term. The decision was up to Mr Hawkins.

Mr Little said he was expecting several nominations to succeed Mr Hawkins, and indicated a preference for a Maori or Pacific Island choice.

"There is a high Pacific and Maori population in the electorate and as a general principle I'm a fan of seeing candidates who are as reflective as possible of the electorate."

It is understood Ms Wall first sounded out Labour MP Shane Jones about his plans before making her intentions known.

Mr Jones has long been tipped as the replacement for Mr Hawkins - and was favoured by Mr Hawkins himself.

Yesterday, however, Mr Jones ruled himself out, saying he believed the MP should live in the electorate and he did not want to move his family.

"I'm an unlikely starter. I've had a heck of a year and my home and most other things are still in the North."

The Labour Party had nine nominations for the Te Atatu seat within a day of current MP Chris Carter saying he would not seek re-selection.

Mr Carter was expelled from Labour's caucus in July and will face the party's council tomorrow to decide if he will keep his membership.