New Zealand electorates

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An electorate is a voting district for elections to the Parliament of New Zealand. In informal discussion, electorates are often called seats. The most formal description, electoral district, is rarely seen outside of electoral legislation. Before 1996, all Members of Parliament were directly chosen for office by the voters of an electorate. In 2008 and 2011 under the MMP electoral system, 70 of the usually 120 seats in Parliament are filled by electorate members, with the remainder being filled from party lists in order to achieve proportional representation (there were 69 electorate seats in 2005). The 70 electorates are made up from 63 general and 7 Māori electorates.

Distribution

Originally, electorates were drawn up based on political and social links, with little consideration for differences in population. Each electorate was allocated a different number of MPs (up to three) in order to balance population differences, but this was only partly successful. Eventually, a new system was introduced — each electorate would elect one MP, and boundaries would be drawn based on population. However, a special country quota meant that rural seats were allowed to contain fewer people than urban seats, preserving an inequality (and over-representing farmers). The quota persisted until 1945.

Today, electorate boundaries are determined by the Representation Commission. The Commission consists of:

• Four government officials — the Government Statistician, the Surveyor-General, the Chief Electoral Officer, and the Chairperson of the Local Government Commission.
• A representative of the governing party or coalition, and a representative of the opposition block.
• A chairperson (often a judge) nominated by the other members, with the exception of Chairperson of the Local Government Commission.

Boundaries are reviewed after each New Zealand Census, which occurs every five years. The South Island is guaranteed to have 16 general seats, with the remainder of voters (North Island and Māori) being divided into electorates of the same population as the South Island ones. Electorates may vary by 5% of the average population size. This has caused the number of list seats in Parliament to decline as the population is experiencing 'northern drift' (i.e. the population of the North Island, especially around Auckland, is growing faster than that of the South Island).

In a continuation of 'northern drift', the North Island got an extra electoral seat for the 2008 general election.^[1] The need for an extra seat was determined from the results of the 2006 Census. The extra seat brought the total number of electoral seats to 70, and reduced the number of list seats to 50.^[1]

The Parliaments elected in 2005 and 2008 had more than 120 members – 121 in 2005 and 122 in 2008 – an overhang caused by the Māori Party winning more electorate seats than its proportion of the party vote would give it.

Special electorates

For the qualifications required to vote, which were gradually extended, see History of voting in New Zealand.

Over the years, there have been two types of "special" electorates created for particular communities. The first were special goldminers' electorates, created for participants in the Otago Goldrush — goldminers did not usually meet the residency and property requirements in the electorate they were prospecting in, but were numerous enough to want political representation. Two goldminers' electorates existed, the first began in 1863 and both ended in 1870.

Much more durable have been the Māori electorates, created in 1868 to give separate representation to Māori citizens. Although originally intended to be temporary, they came to function as reserved positions for Māori, ensuring that there would always be a Māori voice in Parliament. Until 1996 the number of Māori electorates was fixed at four, significantly under-representing Māori in Parliament. Since the introduction of MMP, the number of seats can change with the number of Māori voters who choose to go on the Māori roll rather than the general roll.

Current electorates

General electorates

Electorate	MP		party	description
Auckland Central	Kaye, NikkiNikki Kaye		National	inner-city Auckland and Hauraki Gulf islands
Bay of Plenty	Ryall, TonyTony Ryall		National	central Bay of Plenty coast
Botany	Ross, Jami-LeeJami-Lee Ross		National	south east Auckland (new seat)
Christchurch Central	Burns, BrendonBrendon Burns		Labour	inner city Christchurch
Christchurch East	Dalziel, LianneLianne Dalziel		Labour	eastern Christchurch
Clutha-Southland	English, BillBill English		National	Southland region (excluding Invercargill) and south Otago and parts of Central Otago
Coromandel	Goudie, SandraSandra Goudie		National	Coromandel Peninsula
Dunedin North	Hodgson, PetePete Hodgson		Labour	central and north Dunedin
Dunedin South	Curran, ClareClare Curran		Labour	south Dunedin and east Dunedin
East Coast	Tolley, AnneAnne Tolley		National	Wairoa, Gisborne, eastern Bay of Plenty
East Coast Bays	McCully, MurrayMurray McCully		National	northeastern North Shore City
Epsom	Hide, RodneyRodney Hide		ACT	east-central Auckland
Hamilton East	Bennett, DavidDavid Bennett		National	east Hamilton
Hamilton West	Tim Macindoe		National	west Hamilton
Helensville	Key, JohnJohn Key		National	northwest Auckland urban fringe
Hunua	Hutchison, PaulPaul Hutchison		National	Franklin, rural districts south of Auckland.
Hutt South	Mallard, TrevorTrevor Mallard		Labour	southern Hutt Valley
Ilam	Gerry Brownlee		National	western Christchurch
Invercargill	Roy, EricEric Roy		National	Invercargill, peripheral towns and Stewart Island/Rakiura
Kaikōura	King, ColinColin King		National	Marlborough, Kaikoura and north Canterbury
Mana	Faafoi, KrisKris Faafoi		Labour	Porirua city and southern Kapiti Coast
Mangere	Sio, Su'a WilliamSu'a William Sio		Labour	Mangere, south Auckland
Manukau East	Robertson, RossRoss Robertson		Labour	Otara and eastern Manukau
Manurewa	Hawkins, GeorgeGeorge Hawkins		Labour	central and southern Manukau city
Maungakiekie	Lotu-Iiga, SamSam Lotu-Iiga		National	south east suburbs of Auckland city
Mt Albert	Shearer, DavidDavid Shearer		Labour	west-central Auckland
Mt Roskill	Goff, PhilPhil Goff		Labour	south-western Auckland city
Napier	Tremain, ChrisChris Tremain		National	city of Napier
Nelson	Smith, NickNick Smith		National	city of Nelson
New Lynn	Cunliffe, DavidDavid Cunliffe		Labour	West Auckland
New Plymouth	Young, JonathanJonathan Young		National	city of New Plymouth and Waitara
North Shore	Mapp, WayneWayne Mapp		National	south east North Shore
Northcote	Jonathan Coleman		National	south west North Shore
Northland	Carter, JohnJohn Carter		National	Northland outside of Whangarei
Ōhariu	Dunne, PeterPeter Dunne		United Future	north Wellington and western Hutt Valley hills
Ōtaki	Guy, NathanNathan Guy		National	Horowhenua and northern Kapiti Coast
Pakuranga	Williamson, MauriceMaurice Williamson		National	east Auckland
Palmerston North	Lees-Galloway, IainIain Lees-Galloway		Labour	city of Palmerston North
Papakura	Judith Collins		National	Papakura and parts of Franklin district, Auckland.
Port Hills	Dyson, RuthRuth Dyson		Labour	south east Christchurch and port of Lyttelton
Rangitata	Goodhew, JoJo Goodhew		National	South Canterbury
Rangitīkei	Power, SimonSimon Power		National	northern Manawatu and inland Whanganui region.
Rimutaka	Hipkins, ChrisChris Hipkins		Labour	northern Hutt Valley
Rodney	Smith, LockwoodLockwood Smith		National	Hibiscus Coast, Wellsford and Warkworth
Rongotai	King, AnnetteAnnette King		Labour	southern and eastern suburbs of Wellington; Chatham Islands
Rotorua	McClay, ToddTodd McClay		National	Rotorua District and Kawerau
Selwyn	Adams, AmyAmy Adams		National	western Christchurch urban fringe and Ashburton
Tāmaki	Peachey, AllanAllan Peachey		National	eastern suburbs of Auckland city
Taranaki-King Country	Ardern, ShaneShane Ardern		National	northern Taranaki towns, King Country and Te Awamutu
Taupō	Upston, LouiseLouise Upston		National	Taupo, Turangi, South Waikato and Ruapehu districts
Tauranga	Bridges, SimonSimon Bridges		National	central Tauranga and Mount Maunganui
Te Atatu	Carter, ChrisChris Carter		Independent	Te Atatu peninsula and Henderson, west Auckland
Tukituki	Foss, CraigCraig Foss		National	Hastings and southern Hawkes Bay
Waikato	Tisch, LindsayLindsay Tisch		National	north Waikato
Waimakariri	Cosgrove, ClaytonClayton Cosgrove		Labour	northwest Christchurch, Rangiora and Kaiapoi
Wairarapa	Hayes, JohnJohn Hayes		National	Wairarapa, Tararua District
Waitakere	Bennett, PaulaPaula Bennett		National	West Auckland
Waitaki	Dean, JacquiJacqui Dean		National	north and parts of central Otago
Wellington Central	Robertson, GrantGrant Robertson		Labour	inner-city Wellington
West Coast-Tasman	Auchinvole, ChrisChris Auchinvole		National	West Coast, Murchison and north Nelson regional coast
Whanganui	Chester Borrows		National	city of Wanganui and south Taranaki coast
Whangarei	Heatley, PhilPhil Heatley		National	city of Whangarei
Wigram	Anderton, JimJim Anderton		Progressive	south west Christchurch

Māori electorates

Electorate	MP		Party	Description
Hauraki-Waikato	Mahuta, NanaiaNanaia Mahuta		Labour	Waikato region; New seat replacing the old Tainui seat.
Ikaroa-Rawhiti	Horomia, ParekuraParekura Horomia		Labour	eastern North Island from East Cape to Wairarapa
Tamaki Makaurau	Sharples, PitaPita Sharples		Māori	central and southern Auckland
Te Tai Hauauru	Turia, TarianaTariana Turia		Māori	western coast of the North Island and South Waikato
Te Tai Tokerau	Harawira, HoneHone Harawira		Mana	Upper North Island
Te Tai Tonga	Katene, RahuiRahui Katene		Māori	Wellington, the South Island, Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands
Waiariki	Flavell, Te UruroaTe Ururoa Flavell		Māori	Bay of Plenty, Taupo, Coromandel

Abolished electorates

General Electorates

Albany Akaroa Aoraki Arch Hill Ashburton Ashley Auckland Auckland East Auckland North Auckland Suburbs Auckland West Avon Awarua Banks Peninsula Bay of Islands Birkenhead Brooklyn Bruce Buller Caversham Chalmers Cheviot Christchurch Christchurch Country Christchurch North Christchurch South Christchurch West Clive Clutha Coleridge Collingwood Courtenay Dunedin Dunedin Central Dunedin Country Dunedin East Dunedin and Suburbs North Dunedin and Suburbs South Dunedin Suburbs Dunedin West Dunstan East Cape Eastern Bay of Plenty Eden Egmont Ellesmere Fendalton Far North Foxton Franklin Franklin North Franklin South Geraldine Gisborne Glenfield Gladstone Grey Grey and Bell Grey Lynn Greymouth Grey Valley Halswell Hamilton Hampden Hastings Hauraki Hawera Hawke Hawkes Bay Heathcote Henderson Heretaunga Hobson Hokitika Hokonui Horowhenua

Hunua Hurunui Hutt Hutt, Eastern Hutt, Western Inangahua Island Bay Kaiapoi Kaimai Kaipara Kapiti Karapiro Karori King Country Kumara Lincoln Linwood Lyttelton Mahia Manawatu Manuherikia Manukau Maramarua Marlborough Marsden Masterton Matamata Mataura Mid-Canterbury Miramar Moeraki Mongonui Mongonui and Bay of Islands Mornington Motueka Motueka and Massacre Bay Mount Herbert Mount Ida Mount Victoria Nelson, Suburbs of Newton Newtown Northern Division Oamaru Ohariu-Belmont Ohinemuri Omata Onehunga Onslow Oroua Otago Otago Central Otahuhu Otara Owairaka Pahiatua Palmerston Panmure Papakura Papanui Papatoetoe Pareora Parnell Patea Pencarrow Peninsula Pensioner Settlements Petone Picton Ponsonby Port Chalmers Raglan Rakaia Rangiora Rangiriri Rangitata

Remuera Riccarton Riverton Roskill Roslyn Ruahine St Albans St Kilda Selwyn South Canterbury Southern Division Stanmore Stratford Sydenham Taieri Taranaki Tarawera Tasman Taumarunui Te Aro Te Aroha Temuka Thames Thorndon Timaru Tongariro Totara Tuapeka Waiapu Waihemo Waikaia Waikaremoana Waikato Waikouaiti Waimarino Waimate Waimea Waimea-Picton Waimea Sounds Waipa Waipareira Waipawa Wairarapa and Hawkes Bay Wairarapa North Wairarapa South Wairau Waitaki Waitemata Waitomo Waitotara Wakanui Wakatipu Wallace Wanganui and Rangitikei Wanganui Wellington Wellington Country Wellington East Wellington-Karori Wellington North Wellington South Wellington South and Suburbs Wellington Suburbs Wellington Suburbs and Country Wellington West West Auckland West Coast Western Hutt Westland Westland Boroughs Westland North Westland South Woodville Yaldhurst

Māori electorates

Eastern Maori Hauraki

Northern Maori Southern Maori Tainui

Te Puku O Te Whenua Te Tai Rawhiti Western Maori

Goldminers' electorates

• Goldfields
• Goldfields Towns

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "North Island to get additional electoral seat in 2008". Radio New Zealand. 2007-02-01. http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/latest/200702011103/north_island_to_get_additional_electoral_seat_in_2008. Retrieved 2007-02-01. ^{[dead link]}

External links

• Electorate profiles, produced by the Parliamentary Library, New Zealand Parliament

• Map of electorates with boundaries, produced by the Elections NZ website, run by the Electoral Commission, the Electoral Enrolment Centre, the Representation Commission, and the Justice Sector.