KEY POINTS:
National Party leader John Key yesterday revisited the area he said typified New Zealand's underclass - and came face-to-face with the youngster who threw an egg at his car on the politician's last visit.
Mr Key was pictured driving off from the well-documented visit to McGehan Close, Owairaka - where he eventually managed to win over many of the residents - in a car hit by a broken egg.
Yesterday he went to Wesley Intermediate School to see the I Have a Dream programme set up by millionaire entrepreneur Scott Gilmour to give better opportunities to disadvantaged children.
And one of those "dreamers" could barely contain his excitement.
"Is John Key here?" asked 12-year-old Antoni Kalekale with a cheeky grin. "Ha, ha, I egged his car."
Mr Key asked Antoni if he had since been well behaved.
"Na," came the reply. But the Wesley student shook Mr Key's hand and beamed from ear to ear.
Mr Gilmour had asked Mr Key to visit the programme after the politician singled out McGehan Close as "dead end" and home to a growing underclass.
He said the McGehan Close cul-de-sac was home to three of its "dreamers", including Aroha Ireland, 12, who accompanied Mr Key to celebrations in Waitangi this month.
The programme "adopted" an entire Year 4 class of Wesley Primary School students four years ago and pledged to work with them until they finished high school in 2012.
The trust would then pay for tertiary education if any of the children chose to go on with further studies.
"Organising a business to donate some muesli bars for school breakfasts isn't the answer," said Mr Gilmour.
"But it might be part of the answer. And only if it's long-term, integrated with other solutions."
He called for more people to volunteer their time and resources to set up and run programmes similar to I Have a Dream.
Mr Gilmour said it was not fair to single out Aroha, the programme's most high-profile member. Mr Key yesterday took a scrapbook from their trip to Waitangi to her at home where she was away from school, sick.
"She is one of 53 dreamers and she is one of thousands of children around the country for whom some aspects of their lives are difficult," said Mr Gilmour.
"Aroha has got a lot of potential, like all of our kids. She's a sweet kid and she's a smart kid."
Mr Key said the programme highlighted his point that the lives of children "on the pathway to the underclass" could be turned around by support.
He praised the programme's long-term commitment to individuals and asked Mr Gilmour how it could be replicated in other parts of New Zealand.
Several of Mr Key's appointments this week focus on Maori, including visiting the 28 (Maori) Battalion C Company exhibition at Gisborne Museum tomorrow and attending the Kapa Haka Festival in Palmerston North on Sunday.
But he said the appointments were a coincidence and not a push to woo Maori voters or a reaction to his "underclass" speech.
Underclass seen as a growing problem
An opinion poll shows six out of 10 people believe there is a growing underclass in New Zealand, and Prime Minister Helen Clark admits that despite her Government's efforts, some people still slip through the cracks.
The TV One Colmar Brunton poll last night showed more than eight in every 10 people surveyed believed there was an underclass problem.
Six out of 10 said it had grown under the Clark Government, 9 per cent said it had gone down and 23 per cent said it had stayed the same.
The underclass was first raised by National's leader, John Key, in a speech at the end of last month.
He said there was a growing number of hopeless people who were not being helped by Government policies.
The poll showed 47 per cent of the 1000 people questioned did not think National had the right policies to help low-income New Zealanders and 30 per cent said it did.
Asked whether the Government had the right solutions, 42 per cent thought it did and 45 per cent did not.
Helen Clark said there were many more people in work since Labour came to power in 1999, and there was more investment in low-decile schools, housing and healthcare.
"All that has helped a great deal, but of course there are still poor people and some people are falling through the cracks of every system devised. We're endeavouring to deal with that in a number of ways - youth gang initiatives, family violence initiatives, vulnerable family initiatives."
She said she came to government to make a difference to people at the bottom of the ladder.
"I know we're making a difference. I also know there are people who still fall through every crack and we need to redouble our attention on those people."
Mr Key said he knew National had to change.
"It has to change its message so it proves to people we are connecting across a wide range of issues in our society, and that we've got an answer and a solution to some of those problems."
- NZPA
