Farewell David Bennett

It will be a great loss to the community. First I met Hon. David Bennett, was in early 2005 when there was a prayer meeting for the Sri Lankan tsunami victims at the Anglican Church grounds in Victoria St. Later he was elected as the MP for Hamilton East and was appointed as a junior minister in Bill English’s cabinet. As a Minister, he visited Sri Lanka with a trade delegation and played cricket for fun in the green with Sri Lankan kids where recently Sri Lankans had 100 days of protest due to corruption by the Rajapaksa government.

David Bennett is an extraordinary MP. On the day Parliament does not meet you can see his vehicle parked on various Hamilton East streets and he will walk house to house speaking to people and giving his visiting card. When he is in the office you could see a large number of the local communities calling over for various assistance. At all community events, you can see him and he will mix with people and have a meal with them at the end. He loves to eat hot ethnic food although you can see the effect of chillies on his face. At the community events he does not come and sit in VIP seats and walk away, he will sit with the community and move around speaking to each and every one. His service to the community as an MP was great, even Donald Trump would not do this.

From Wellington as soon as he embarks on the flight to Hamilton, he comes directly to community events. He has never missed a single citizenship ceremony in Hamilton. All communities know who David Bennett is. Good listener and a friendly person.

A year ago when David introduced me to his parents at a funeral house in Te Awamutu, it prompted me to ask them when David Bennett is going into family life. Now I find that he has become a family man and I wish him all the best for the future in a farming family with Nicky and baby Julia.

Mano Manoharan, Hamilton