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It is with small regret that the Paterson family are moving out from their below-road basement flat in Wellington. It is quite a good one bedroom flat, but far too small for man, wife and two small children. Having to move to a house where there are no steps is quite a common occurrence in Wellington when children arrive. This time it's a shift to a new state house. For Mrs Paterson this is the sixth shift in three years. Like many servicemen's wives she has lacked a real home, so for her it is an eventful day - almost as eventful as the day she heard that her husband really had escaped from Singapore. The lorry rolls along the streets of Waddington, a brand new suburb in Hutt City. On either side are the rows of new state houses, all built in the last nine months.
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