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Phil Goff - Source: ONE News -
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It is an Auckland street that attracted infamy during the last election.
Mt Roskill's McGehan Close hit the spotlight in 2007 when John Key, then leader of the opposition, paid a visit. He dubbed it as the "street of shame" and labelled those in the street typical of a New Zealand's "underclass", but he also made a promise.
"We do think there's been issues here which have made it a dead end street but the whole purpose is to say we think that's wrong and we want to fix it," he said then.
Today, another election looms and it was the opposition leader Phil Goff's turn to visit the neighbourhood and ask residents what has changed since Key took power.
Goff says nothing has changed four years on.
The residents themselves were split on how much had changed over the years.
Prompted by Goff, locals said higher prices are a problem while others said little has been done to improve rundown state housing on the street.
"John Key came through and said he'd fix things but as you can see nothing happened," resident Faiz Gharib told ONE News.
His family has lived on the street for nine years, and they would vote Labour because they always had. He says promises to fix his leaking state house came to nothing so he spent nearly $2500 himself to make the home safe.
"If I had the chance to leave, I would leave, but as we are a low income family I just have to fight for my life with my kids," Gharib says.
But what has definitely changed on the street is community response, with very few people bothering to answer the door to Goff today as he went door-to-door to win residents votes.
It is a case of politicking fatigue; Since Key's explosive visit in 2007, the residents of McGehan Close have often had visit from politicians and the media.
Several residents that ONE News spoke to say they are sick of the spotlight, sick of being used by politicians.
But that did not deter Goff, who says he visited the street because it was part of his electorate.
Goff also talked to residents about the rising cost of living, saying that it was another reason to vote Labour.
The Labour leader left the residents with promises of raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour and cutting GST from fruit and vegetables if he was elected.
