Disappointed at being ranked 25th on the 2005 Labour Party list, he withdrew his name from the list, and won the Manurewa seat with a comfortable margin of over 12,000 votes (a similar majority to his 2002 election win). Although Hawkins was criticised over his handling of police issues, in particular 111 calls, he remained a Minister until he made the decision not to seek a new position in Cabinet after the 2005 election. He subsequently became a backbencher and became regarded by colleagues as a quiet maverick, asking written questions of ministers in the same manner that Opposition MPs would do.