Southern Maori

Population centres

From its initial definition of the Maori electorates in 1867 to the 1954 Maori electoral boundary redefinition, the Southern Maori electorate covered the entire South Island plus it included Stewart Island. It did not include the Chatham Islands, which did not belong to any Maori electorate until after a change to the Legislative Act and from the , the Chatham Islands belonged to the Western Maori electorate. The 1954 redefinition responded to the fact that the Southern Maori electorate had a much lower voter base than the three other Maori electorates, and this was responded to by adding the south-eastern part of the North Island to the Southern Maori electorate. Population centres that came to the electorate through this measure included Wellington, Masterton, Palmerston North, Napier, and Wairoa. These changes became effective with the .

The next redistribution of Maori electoral boundaries was carried out in 1983, just after the responsibility for doing so had been transferred to the Representation Commission. The North Island boundaries of the Southern Maori electorate were adjusted, and Palmerston North transferred to the Western Maori electorate in that process. These boundaries were used in the . Further boundary adjustments were undertaken in 1987, which became operative with the .

Tribal areas

Ngāi Tahu and Ngati Kahungunu were the dominant tribes within the area covered by the electorate.

History

The Southern Maori electorate included the whole of the South Island to 1954, but its population was less than that of the other Māori electorates. In 1954 the boundaries were extended to include much of the East Coast of the North Island up to Napier and Wairoa in Hawkes Bay.

The first member of parliament for the new Māori electorate of Southern Maori from 1868 was John Patterson; he retired in 1870.

In 1932, Eruera Tirikatene won the electorate in a by-election and became the first Rātana MP; and then a Labour MP following the Labour-Ratana pact. When he died in 1967 his daughter Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan took over the seat in a 1967 by-election.

In 1993 the National Party did not stand a candidate in the electorate as their proposed candidate did not apply in time.

In 1996 with mixed-member proportional (MMP) representation, the Te Tai Tonga electorate covering the South Island took over the major part of the Southern Maori electorate. Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan who had held the Southern Maori electorate for many years narrowly lost the new seat to Tu Wyllie of New Zealand First and retired from politics.

Members of Parliament

The Southern Maori electorate was represented by ten Members of Parliament:

Key

Election results

Note that the affiliation of many early candidates is not known.

1993 election

|reg. electors = 25,984

1990 election

|reg. electors = 20,785

1987 election

|reg. electors = 19,104

1984 election

|reg. electors = 19,300

1981 election

|reg. electors = 20,390

1978 election

|reg. electors = 30,966

1975 election

|reg. electors = 18,282

1972 election

|reg. electors = 14,522

1969 election

|reg. electors = 13,359

1967 by-election

1966 election

|reg. electors = 12,081

1963 election

|reg. electors = 11,189

1960 election

|reg. electors = 9,529

1957 election

|reg. electors = 8,240

1954 election

|reg. electors = 7,486

1951 election

|reg. electors = 1,430

1949 election

|reg. electors = 1,355

1946 election

1932 by-election

1931 election

1922 by-election

1918 by-election

1899 election

1896 election

1893 election

1887 election

1885 by-election

1879 by-election

Notes

References

References

1. (1993). "Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place". New Zealand Chief Electoral Office.
2. (1990). "Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place". New Zealand Chief Electoral Office.
3. (1950). "The General Election, 1949". [[National Library of New Zealand.
4. (1947). "The General Election, 1946". [[National Library of New Zealand.
5. (1932). "The General Election, 1931". Government Printer.
6. (19 June 1900). "The General Election, 1899". Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives.
7. (2 January 1897). "Untitled". [[The Evening Post (New Zealand).
8. (4 December 1896). "The Maori Elections". [[The Press]].
9. (1894). "The General Election, 1893". Government Printer.
10. (20 September 1887). "The Maori Members". [[The Press]].
11. (14 September 1887). "The Southern Native Member". [[The Press]].