Labour list gives Hawkins clear message on future

Labour has given Police Minister George Hawkins notice he is unlikely to be returned to Cabinet if the party wins the next election.

The party used its list selection process to send the message to the fifth term Manurewa MP, offering him a low ranking of 25.

The affronted minister, under heavy Opposition attack over the past year, responded by pulling his name from the list.

Mr Hawkins was given a number 15 slot before the last election and is the 11th highest ranked Cabinet minister.

Associate Education Minister David Benson-Pope, now ranked 18 in Cabinet was yesterday the next lowest ranked Cabinet minister at 23.

Mr Hawkins issued a press statement saying he was "happy to put all his eggs in his electorate basket".

He holds a huge 12,548 majority in the electorate, where he said he had a strong personal constituency.

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Helen Clark defended Mr Hawkins against criticism of the police handling of 111 calls.

She accused the Opposition of "schoolyard bullying" and taking advantage of a speech impediment caused by a stroke. She made it clear he would remain in Cabinet until the election, but gave no promises beyond that.

Parekura Horomia and Dover Samuels retained their former senior list rankings, but the only other two Maori seat MPs seeking a list position - Mita Ririnui and Mahara Okeroa - gained significantly higher positions than previously.

Party president Mike Williams said this reflected "loyalty in the line of fire" following the foreshore furore.

The Auckland-Northland region candidates gained the highest rankings among aspiring newcomers, as expected, with the top two gaining positions above sitting MPs.

The party traditionally gives the top list places to sitting MPs, but has made the odd exception.

Shane Jones won top billing at number 27, with former Labour Party president Maryan Street gaining the 36th spot.

Chinese businessman Steven Ching came in at 42 - positions expected to ensure all three make it into Parliament later this year.

A total of eight sitting MPs, including Mr Hawkins, opted not to put themselves forward for the list.

If the election result was the same as 2002 and Labour won the same number of electorate seats, 44th-ranked Service and Food Workers Union general secretary Darien Fenton would also get a seat.

But several lower-ranked list candidates stand good chances of winning electorate seats which would reduce the number of list candidates coming in.

Mr Williams said if the results reflected Sunday's Colmar Brunton poll and Act disappeared during the election, 46th-ranked Clutha-Southland candidate Lesley Soper could also gain a seat.

But he admitted such a result would reflect a "very good day" and said there were too many variables to say where the line would be drawn.

Ms Soper will fill Jonathan Hunt's shoes when he leaves Parliament next month and conceded she was "disappointed" her stint appeared set to be short-lived.

The Labour list

1 Helen Clark
2 Michael Cullen
3 Margaret Wilson
4 Steve Maharey
5 Parekura Horomia
6 Phil Goff
7 Annette King
8 Trevor Mallard
9 Marian Hobbs
10 Dover Samuels
11 Jim Sutton
12 Pete Hodgson
13 Taito Phillip Field
14 Ruth Dyson
15 Mita Ririnui
16 Mark Burton
17 Paul Swain
18 Judith Tizard
19 Chris Carter
20 Luamanuvao Winnie Laban
21 Rick Barker
22 Mahara Okeroa
23 David Benson-Pope
24 Jill Pettis
25 Ashraf Choudhary
26 Lianne Dalziel
27 Shane Jones
28 Dianne Yates
29 Mark Gosche
30 Ann Hartley
31 David Cunliffe
32 Martin Gallagher
33 Steve Chadwick
34 Darren Hughes
35 Georgina Beyer
36 Maryan Street
37 David Parker
38 Russell Fairbrother
39 Dave Hereora
40 Lynne Pillay
41 Moana Mackey
42 Steven Ching
43 Sue Moroney
44 Darien Fenton
45 Charles Chauvel
46 Lesley Soper
47 Louisa Wall
48 Su'a William
49 Brendon Burns
50 Hamish McCracken
51 Denise MacKenzie
52 Max Purnell
53 Wayne Harpur
54 Leila Boyle
55 Dinesh Tailor
56 Philip Twyford
57 Jennifer McCutcheon
58 Chris Yoo
59 Michael Wood
60 Linda Hudson
61 Stuart Nash
62 Tony Milne
63 David Talbot
64 Marilyn Brown
65 Anjum Rahman
66 Eamon Daly
67 Grant Duffy
68 Judy Lawley
69 Mike Mora
70 Erin Ebborn-Gillespie
71 Ai Lian Su
72 Ghazala Anwar
73 Paul Gibson
74 Kelly-Ann Harvey
75 Camille Nakhid

In reserve

76 Nathan Saminathan
77 Ola Kamel
78 Andrea Bather