DIARY OF A CAMPAIGNER: DAY25 'MY PEOPLE'

DAY TWENTY-FIVE:
Tuesday 14 September 2010
Only 3 days until the ballot papers start arriving in the letter boxes and 25 days until ‘D’ day decision day on 09th October.

My team and I, we’re getting really excited. We’ve stepped up the tempo, we’re knocking on more doors, covering more area and meeting more of the locals that make up this great area of Owairaka.

As I travel around the streets I can’t help reminiscing about my childhood growing up in this hood. Today Sarah Turner and I went out to meet the residents living between Owairaka Park and Oakley Creek. For those who know the area, also know that it’s a seldom visited spot by campaigners at either local or central levels. If you know the area you know the streets are there and you know how to get to them. If you’re a pretender to the neighbourhood you can see it from a distance and think the only way to reach it is over the creek.

I used to play on both sides of this area at the Owairaka Park that’s on the main road and along the creek bank; the access way was from either Stoddard or Sandringham Rds. Every home along the handful of streets here looks directly into the Mountain. From either the sitting-room or kitchen windows you can see the summit and the cloud patterns coming in from the Waitakere bringing the westerly winds or rolling slowly in from the North and the warmer breeze. This is not the Northern slopes but rather the South-East side of the maunga. Every single one of the homes built prior 1980’s are State Houses. The newer homes ie: post 1980 are flats or in-fills and privately owned.

According to political ‘experts’ and campaign ‘strategists’ this area is a ‘red-spot’. The whanau here are meant to be Labour supporters – but you know what they’re NOT! These people are ‘my’ people. A couple of whanau are Maori, one or two are Pakeha, some are Pacific Islanders, many more are new immigrant Asian and African. When I say they are ‘my’ people, they are families like mine. They are families with ambition, who aspire for greater things. The Parents we met are Mums and Dads who came to Owairaka from all-over so their children can have a better life than they had, a chance at a better education, the opportunity to work in jobs with potential and prospects. They are also Parents who came to Owairaka for safety and security from war torn countries.
The children we met are kids with one eye on the telly, a homework book on their lap and a hankering to get out and create havoc. What’s stopping them from mischief making are their parents dreams for better, more, safer, happier. Like my family these whanau are also blue collar workers, many working split shift hours for minimum wages. Like my family it will be centre-right politics that will assist them reach their goals. Their hard work ethic will see them break the cycle of welfare dependency. Their ambition for a better education will see their children rise above the negative statistics and achieve beyond the benchmark. These families deserve a centre-right local council that will champion their hard work ethic, that will celebrate their achievements and will reward their ambition. What they do not deserve is a local council that promotes dependency, revels in despondency and offers up excuses for delinquency and disrespect. These locals want a ‘can-do will-do’ local board. They’ll get that with the C&R Team.