 "OMC" stands for "Otara Millionaires' Club" – a tongue-in-cheek reference to the low socio-economic status of much of the suburb, Otara being one of the poorest parts of the Auckland region – Otara North being Auckland Region's suburb with the second lowest median income, at NZ$25,900 after Great Barrier Island at NZ$25,100, and compared to an average of NZ$37,300 and the highest value of NZ$60,000.Otara is also known for its Saturday morning 'flea market' held in the Otara shopping center car park next to the South Campus of Manukau Institute of Technology.In the 1970s Prime Minister Robert Muldoon's immigration policies led to police raids on some Otara residents by police in the search for illegal overstayers from the Pacific Islands.