MPs in your neighbourhood

As most residents in the Manukau East electorate rub Saturday morning sleep from their eyes, or simply roll over, MP Ross Robertson is already chewing the fat.

It's 7am at the Otara Markets and motormouth Robertson is helping Labour Party faithful sell raffle tickets.

He's there week in, week out, election time or not, taking feedback from constituents, inviting those with a problem to his electorate clinic on Monday.

At 10am, as the market winds down, he'll climb into his Nissan Pathfinder and head for the sportsfields of Papatoetoe, Otara, Pakuranga or Howick. He'll barrack for the home team and chat to coaches, club officials or spectators.

It's not unknown for him to watch half a game at one ground then dash off to catch the second half at another.

This particular morning, however, he's due first at Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate in Otara for the 11am opening of a facility for gifted pupils. He talks with senior staff and parents before heading to Howick College to watch the first XV play.

Later, he's serving the first ball at the Papatoetoe Tennis Club season opening. "I didn't ace the guy but at least I got my first serve in."

Most Saturday nights, there's a speaking engagement at a sports club or community agency - this weekend it's handing out the gold star award for the Auckland Volunteer Fire Police. Sunday, he's star guest at the 150th anniversary of St Johns Presbyterian Church in Papatoetoe.

Like most electorate MPs, six-termer Robertson works at least a 6 1/2 day week, though insiders say his devotion to his constituents puts all others in the shade.

It's not just about being seen and pressing the flesh. He'll come away from engagements with new cases to pursue - a constituent battling Winz or Inland Revenue or ACC; a family desperately needing a state house; a would-be migrant diddled by an immigration consultant.

Voters tend to think of MPs as gravy trainers, relaxing on Parliamentary perks between three-day slanging matches in the Beehive.

Under MMP, with more MPs but fewer electorates, the role of constituency MPs seems old-fashioned.

Backbench voices are rarely heard in the enlarged House. Ignored by the mass media, their achievements are anonymous.

"It's amazing how little the public knows about the life of an MP," says New Lynn MP David Cunliffe. "We wouldn't do the job other than for love and trying to make the world a better place.

"The pay is considerably less than I used to get in the private sector and you soon get sick of the jollies of being in the media. It's a service job - and that's the way it should be."

For electorate MPs, that means flying home from Parliament on Thursday night with a briefcase full of reading to be fitted around electorate engagements, party duties and meetings with constituents.

Backbenchers will spend Monday in their electorates before returning to Wellington; ministers are back in time for Monday morning Cabinet meetings.

There are those who question the value of paying elected representatives a basic $110,000 a year to spend more time on parish pump issues than on hoisting the country up the OECD ladder.

But ask our representatives which they prefer and most plump for electorate duties over Beehive machinations.

"It's a vital part of the job," says Northcote MP and deputy speaker Ann Hartley. "You can argue a social worker could do these things but MPs are there to ensure the delivery of government services is done properly."

Helensville MP John Key says MPs can be lifesavers. He cites Fiji-born kidney patient, Radhika Lal, granted residency in February and entitled to free dialysis and a kidney transplant after Key took her case to Associate Immigration Minister Damien O'Connor.

Most MPs have similar notches in their belts: victories for ACC or Winz beneficiaries, housing problems resolved; child custody decisions reversed; tax penalties wiped; hip operations brought forward; immigration barriers breached.

Tamaki MP Clem Simich says most constituents have nowhere left to turn when they approach their MP.

"They've come up against bureaucracy and been unable to make progress. Some can't be helped but at least we can try."

"I think it's the most enjoyable and the most satisfying part of being an MP - when you achieve something for your constituents, you know you've done it. In Parliament, nobody achieves anything as an individual."

David Cunliffe's constituency work this term has included arguing to keep the Air Force at Whenuapai, redevelopment of New Lynn railway station and the Waitakere Ranges National Heritage Area Bill.

Is it right that the MPs we elect to make the big national policy decisions are so locally focused?

Dr Raymond Miller, senior lecturer in Auckland University's department of political studies, says New Zealanders expect their politicians to be available and to respond quickly to their needs.

"There's a long history in New Zealand of having access to your local MP on a Saturday morning or some other time of week for you to go along and seek help.

"It's part of our democratic tradition - there's an expectation that politicians are basically like ourselves and should be accessible."

Retiring MP Richard Prebble is not so sure. The former Act leader and 1980s Labour Cabinet minister suggests the Citizens Advice Bureau could do much of what MPs do in their electorate, with the member more of an ombudsman.

MMP has raised the incentive for electorate MPs to look after their patches, says Prebble. In a bigger Parliament, backbenchers have less influence on legislation and debates.

"I think they rationalise this by being social workers ... and because human misery is infinite you can make yourself very busy."

With fewer marginal seats, MPs who work hard in their constituencies can be assured of a long career. MMP even raises the prospect that a constituency favourite will survive regardless of what his or her party does, with electors using their two ticks to keep the local MP but vote out the party.

"Some list MPs have a very pleasant life flying to Wellington on Tuesday and going home on Thursday for long weekends on their lifestyle block,"says Prebble.

But he concedes most list MPs have constituency responsibilities - it's just that the constituency may be nationwide.

MINOR party list MPs may also have national portfolios, such as food safety or foreign affairs, to push. Mt Eden-based United Future MP Bernie Ogilvy says his days away from Parliament are similar to those of electorate MPs.

"My diaries are full on Friday, Saturday and Monday. My secretary never thought it would be like this - we get people streaming in from all over."

Even Cabinet ministers who maintain constituencies rather than go on the list say their electorate work is important to them.

Justice Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff spends most Saturdays in his Labour Party caravan in Mt Roskill, listening to constituents' gripes.

"Cabinet ministers risk becoming isolated from day-to-day realities because they spend a lot of time speaking to civil servants and, in my case, international people. My electorate helps me to understand where ordinary people with everyday problems are at."

Deputy Leader of the House Mark Burton is happy to represent one of the country's most far-flung electorates, Taupo, while maintaining three ministerial portfolios."If there's two community events on, one in Raetihi [near Ohakune] and one in Putaruru, it's physically impossible to do both."

But he says constituents expect them to be accessible."It will always be a highly demanding role and so it should be."