Hollow promises haunt PM

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Steven Zhou will never forget the day the future prime minister came to call. In February 2007, the Sunday Star-Times arranged for John Key, leader of the opposition and still 21 months away from winning a landslide election, to visit Zhou and his wife in their Housing New Zealand unit. Zhou, a mechanical design engineer and his wife Susan, a dental nurse, dreamed of owning their own home, but could not afford to enter Auckland's inflated housing market.

Key said the Zhous were exactly the kind of people National wanted to help, and talked about plans to help state house tenants buy their homes. Zhou voted for National at the 2008 election and Key delivered on his promise that day, the government last year introducing a state house purchase policy, as well as increasing assistance under the Welcome Home Loan programme.

Unfortunately for Zhou, there was a catch. Tenants living in semi-detached units could not buy them, as having state and private owners of one dwelling could effect Housing NZ's ability to develop in future.

"I don't qualify," says Zhou. "It's not fair for somebody like me." A spokesman for Housing Minister Phil Heatley pointed out that tenants in Zhou's position were offered a house elsewhere, but this does not appeal to Zhou, as he believes it would mean another family would have to move out.

Zhou says nothing much has changed for him under a National government. He fears being made redundant as the economic crisis has affected his business, and believes National's policies have benefited the rich. Planned tax changes announced last week, including a possible raising of GST to 15%, only add to that feeling. Once again Zhou finds himself caught in the middle – three years ago he complained that Labour's policies were targeted at poorer people.

With their three cars, including a Mercedes, and double income, the Zhous are probably the wealthiest residents on McGehan Close, which is in a predominantly working-class area in Owairaka in the Auckland suburb of Mt Albert. Many others are on benefits and, for them, nothing much has changed – life is still a struggle.

Some are bitter that Key has used their street for political gain. "What's he done? Nothing," was a common refrain.

"His biggest mistake was coming here," says social worker Vince Tuisamoa. "It will be his Achilles heel. He's used the street, this is the street he names all the time and yet the street is still the same, we haven't got anything.

"He promised tax relief, but the only people he's given it to is the top people. He offered jobs, but what jobs has he given? It's like waiting for Santa Claus, but he doesn't come."

Factory worker Chandra Kumar voted for National. "I thought he [Key] might bring in good change, but all those promises were lies." Kumar said while he had received about $10 a week in tax cuts, rent and other costs had increased by more than that. "They put something in one pocket and take out of the other."

Joan Nathan became the public face of McGehan Close after she confronted Key during his walkabout, castigating him for calling the street a dead end. Key struck up a rapport with her – she ended up working for National MP Jackie Blue – and Key took Nathan's daughter, Aroha, to Waitangi celebrations.

Nathan was made redundant from the electorate office job and is still struggling to make ends meet. She feels that Key used her, and has not made things better. The street is just the same, she says; nothing has changed.

"How many promises has he stuck to? I got warned. My family told me. They say `you voted him in, all this bullshit we're going through, it's your fault'. It doesn't matter which way you turn, you're never gonna win with government. I could have voted for Labour and we'd be going through the same old bullshit."

But some things have improved on the street. There is no outward sign of the street gangs that had plagued the area – residents say they have disappeared thanks to regular patrolling by police and quick responses to their calls. There is less graffiti and a brand new footbridge has been built through an adjoining park that had been the scene of much trouble.

And the homes are looking smart. One woman, who would give her name only as Mary, showed the Star-Times new carpet, curtains and bathroom she has received through a state housing upgrade programme. The government, as part of a jobs and growth plan, has pumped $125 million into state housing upgrades over 18 months, leading to 1000 new jobs.

Mary, who has lived on McGehan Close since 1981 and raised five children in her state home, is angry that Key made an example of her street. "What no one would listen to is that it was outside kids coming in causing all the trouble. The residents of the street didn't do anything wrong, all of a sudden the whole of New Zealand knows about us."

MCGEHAN CLOSE: THE STORY SO FAR

January 30, 2007: In his "state of the nation" speech, John Key spoke of "streets in our country where helplessness has become ingrained... I'm talking about streets like McGehan Close in Owairaka, Auckland."

February 3, 2007: Key visits McGehan Close. He is sworn at and a boy eggs his car, but wins admiration for fronting up and apologising. He strikes up conversation with resident Joan Nathan.

February 6, 2007: John Key takes Joan Nathan's daughter Aroha Ireland with him to Waitangi, chaperoned by List MP and Nathan's GP Jackie Blue. Aroha describes the trip, one of only a few she had made outside Auckland, as exciting.

February 2008: Joan Nathan tells media that life on McGehan Close has improved, including an alcohol ban at the park, and a street committee and a neighbourhood watch group operating.

- © Fairfax NZ News