Charging state house tenants market rents appears to be history, no matter who is in the Beehive.
National leader John Key has announced on TV One's Agenda programme he doesn't like the policy and his party is unlikely to bring it back.
In 1999, Len Parker was evicted and arrested for barricading himself in his state house and refusing to pay market rates.
"People just couldn't afford to pay market rents at that time and we saw the crippling effects of that of people paying 50, 60, 70% of their income," the state housing campaigner says.
National's new leader on Saturday appeared to agree with him, telling Agenda what was once core National policy is potentially no longer.
"I don't favour a move back to market-related rents and I don't think the party will support a move back to market related rents," Key said.
Key says instead, his party's goal would be to help those tenants who can, buy their state houses.
"That will allow those people to get a rung on the ladder if you like of home ownership."
But those most opposed to market rentals are sceptical of National's apparent u-turn.
"Anything that moves away from market rent would be a victory, but it just goes against the whole ideology and philosophy of these people," Parker says.
Housing Minister Chris Carter is questioning whether National can dump market rentals and stick to another policy promise.
"The Nats keep telling us they're going to cut government spending. So clearly they're not going to do it in housing. Where are they going to do it?"
State housing caused embarrassment for National last election when leader Don Brash couldn't say what the policy was.
"I haven't seen the press statement actually...so I prefer not to comment on that," he said in the run-up to the 2005 poll.
And while John Key was commenting on housing on Saturday, he stresses National is yet to finalise its policy. However it seems market rentals are another area where he's keen to remove the difference between National and Labour, and eliminate a target for political attacks.
