MP's ute for sale for great cause
Proceeds from vehicle’s sale to go to Rural Support
Kieran McAnulty once fought a man who tried to steal his iconic 1997 Mazda ute. But now the Masterton Labour MP is ready to let it go, for a good cause.
“It was time”, is his response when asked why he was selling it.
The 1997 Mazda Double Cab pickup is listed for auction on Trade Me, with the auction closing on October 3. McAnulty plans to give the proceeds to Rural Support, splitting them between Central Hawke’s Bay, Tararua and Wairarapa.
“When I bought the ute, I needed it. I was doing fencing . . . and I was doing a bit of work in a shearing shed and a bit of firewood on the side so I genuinely needed a ute.
The ute has seen a few adventures over the years.
“It’s been broken into three times.” The first time, McAnulty says, was about 10 years ago, on Christmas Eve.
He assumes that whoever did it was thinking there were presents in the back and broke the door.
“It was absolutely empty, so they just broke the window for a pointless reason. Unfortunately, despite my best effort, I couldn’t find a replacement door.”
The second time the vehicle was broken into, McAnulty got himself into a bit of trouble.
“That’s when I found the guy trying to hotwire it and ended up getting into a fight. My first fight that I’ve ever been into, my first punch I’d ever thrown. I’m a halfback, you see so I get into trouble and then get the forwards to finish it off.
“I’m not used to finishing it off myself. He ended up going to jail so that was a win, and I kept my ute so everyone’s happy.”
The third time was last year and it was the night before a parliamentary cricket match. “I had Kris Faafoi’s cricket gear in the back and someone broke in and stole (it).”
McAnulty admits to being quite attached to the ute. The thought of replacing it when he became an MP just didn’t enter his head.
“It’s caught a lot of people’s imaginations over the years,” McAnulty says. “It’s quite common for someone to come up to me and start a conversation as I park on the main street of Dannevirke.
“I just explain to them that I’ve had it for years and if it was good enough for me before I was an MP, it’s good enough for me now. And just see how long it lasts.”
But he says he knew the time had come when the ute just couldn’t get up to speed on the open road.
“It only does 80km/h and it’s pretty slow uphill, so you can imagine when I’m driving from Masterton to Dannevirke, there are a few periods where I’m starting to hold up traffic a fair bit.”
He’s now got himself a hybrid electric vehicle.
“If I’m gonna get a new vehicle I may as well get one that’s a bit more environmentally friendly.”
He’s sure that anyone who often found themselves stuck behind him between Eketahuna and Woodville will be thanking him now.
“They’ll be pleased to see that I’ve now got a vehicle that can get up to 100ks and probably not belch out smoke going up a hill.”
The new car has signwriting with the names of all 203 place names in the electorate.
“When people see it parked up on the side of the road, they’ll be able to go along and find their local town or rural settlement because they’re all listed. Every single one. I thought it was a nice little local touch. To let everyone know that I’m everyone’s MP, not just the MP for Masterton.”
The auction has reached more than $2000 which, McAnulty says, was more than he expected.