Aroha Ireland and John Key walk in Paihia yesterday. Photo / Dean Purcell
Aroha Ireland thinks John Key is "cool" ... but she thinks McGehan Close, where she lives, is "cool" too and doesn't know what National thinks is so wrong with it.
The 12-year-old Wesley Intermediate student was invited to Waitangi by Mr Key when he visited the Owairaka street
- highlighted in his "underclass" speech - on Saturday.
Yesterday morning, Mr Key picked Aroha up in a Crown limousine and took her to Waitangi with him, discussing, among other things, her favourite band, Panic at the Disco.
She described the trip - one of the few she's made outside Auckland and which included her first stay in a hotel - as "exciting".
She said her family were also rapt with the visit, and felt much more comfortable when they realised National list MP Jackie Blue, who accompanied Mr Key to McGehan Close, would be with her for the trip.
Dr Blue was Aroha's grandmother's doctor and also attended to her mother, Joan Nathan, so "Mum said I'd be in good hands".
The pair spent part of the day with Mr Key but slipped away for lunch at the Copthorne Hotel, where Aroha described the chips as great but said she didn't think the fish was fresh.
"Dad always says if it doesn't fall apart it's not fresh."
Aroha said she knew little about events at Waitangi on Waitangi Day, but was looking forward to finding out.
Labour list MP Dover Samuels was the only one publicly labelling Mr Key's invitation a stunt yesterday, but others quietly voiced similar concerns.
But Mrs Nathan told Close Up last night that the invitation had given her daughter a good opportunity.
She continued to disagree with some of Mr Key's views on McGehan Close, but she believed he was trying to push for positive changes.
* The girl identified in a photo yesterday as Aroha was not her.
