Hawkins George: General Debate 
Hawkins George: General Debate 
[Volume:655;Page:4596] 
Hon GEORGE HAWKINS (Labour—Manurewa) 
: 
 It was interesting to listen to Allan Peachey. He seemed to me to be like a palaeontologist scraping over the dry bones of Governments long gone—back to the 1950s and 1960s he went—and I think he did not really have much to contribute. 
I welcome Cam Calder to the House and I hope Dr Calder has a good time in this Parliament. He stood against me at the last election and he worked every day; from March to election day he was up there knocking on doors. He increased the National vote by a few hundred which I think is better than any of his colleagues have ever done. But he is an interesting guy. I listened to  
Morning Report 
 the other day and I saw him on TV where he said that he had never seen a saint or an angel. That is because he is in the National Party; that is the reason why. If he wants to redeem himself he should stop going to so many Tory meetings and meet decent people. 
It is sad the way he came here. Richard Worth was a person whom I used to sit at the airport with perhaps waiting to go to Auckland and talk to. I am sure that this is a very cruel place and it is very easy to forget the contributions that various people make. Richard Worth was not like Cam Calder; he was not a door knocker which provided an opportunity for Rodney Hide. Rodney Hide was able to get the Epsom seat almost by default. Can I tell Rodney Hide that if Cam Calder decides to stand in Epsom he will be knocking on the doors and he will be reminding people that Rodney and John Key stole Auckland and took Auckland away from them. Of course I would be able to back up Cam Calder if he gets out there and wants someone to help knock on a few doors to help get rid of Rodney. I am sure I can find a team of people who will help; not National people though Labour people because I think if Cam Calder cuts the vote from the ACT Party it could become a Labour seat. We are already starting to look at the seats we can get. We are looking around to see who has a majority of less than a couple of thousand. Those Tories are gone; they are history. All they will have to do is sit around collect their cheques for a couple of years and then they will be on the dole queue. They should remember that unemployment is getting worse and worse and they are going to join the queue. 
In my electorate I see very many poor people. They are losing their jobs; even worse a lot of them have lost overtime. Where they used to do 10 hours’ overtime a week for $20 an hour it has gone. That means their kids are going to school hungry. Their kids do not have lunches. As I go around the schools in my electorate the principals are telling me that the situation has got really bad. You know it is always the socially deprived areas that feel these things worse. These people are really hurting quite a lot. It is all right for the Prime Minister to get up and say how many jobs the Government has created and how many have not been lost and it is all very well for Labour members to take a swing at the jobs lost but the reality is that these are families these are families who are hurting these are young kids who do not have any say and who hope that dad has a job and will bring home the money. That is not happening. South Auckland I believe is bearing the brunt of this more than anywhere else. What is happening and where are these people getting help? The queue outside Work and Income has got larger. People come to my electorate office seeking help and of course they want jobs.