Mamma mia! Manurewa MP drives point home

By Chris Daniels

With Manurewa one of the safest Labour seats in the country, George Hawkins probably doesn't need to kiss babies or knock on doors to win.

But Mr Hawkins nevertheless unveiled his secret weapon to win votes yesterday - a 1966 Fiat Bambina fitted with speakers and a microphone.

The gentle folk of his electorate will have to get used to the sight of the Labour police spokesman squeezed into the front seat of the midget car as he travels between street-corner meetings.

The substantial Jonathan Hunt, first elected to Parliament in 1966, helped to unveil the tiny car, although he was politely reluctant to be photographed sitting inside.

But the laughter and jokes quickly melted away at the first footpath meeting when, watched by a few children and a dog, Mr Hawkins' broadcast of Labour Party policies attracted one or two curly questions.

Karen Fraser, laid off as a kitchen hand when the Papakura Army base closed, asked her MP about the lack of child-care facilities in the area.

She said welfare agencies had been "harassing" her to take a training course, but she was concerned she had no one to look after her 5-year-old son.

Another woman told Mr Hawkins she was living in a garage, but did not want to take a state house from a family with children, who would need it more than she would.

Mr Hawkins will spend the next four weeks hearing such stories, promising to host at least 150 street-corner meetings before the election.