GENERAL ELECTORAL DISTRICTS

As a result of the 2006 Census of Population and Dwellings and the subsequent Māori Option, the electoral population figures so derived dictated that a new general electoral district be created in the North Island taking the number to 47, while the South Island retained 16 Electoral Districts as required by the Act. All Electoral Districts must contain electoral populations equal to the quota for the North Island or South Island as applicable, subject to a variation by addition or subtraction of not more than 5%. The quotas calculated in accordance with the Act are:

	North Island General Electoral Districts	57,243 ± 2,862
	South Island General Electoral Districts	57,562 ± 2,878
	Māori Electoral Districts	59,583 ± 2,979

The quota figures are those advised to the Commission by the Government Statistician on 1 February 2007. The Commission commenced its work in accordance with s35 of the Electoral Act 1993 on the basis of the report of the Government Statistician.

Within those allowances the Commission, in forming General Electoral Districts, was required by the Act to give due consideration to:

· the existing boundaries of Electoral Districts;

· community of interest;

· facilities of communications;

· topographical features; and

· any projected population variation in those districts during their life.

During the presentation of submissions by political parties it was submitted that the above considerations should be weighted and applied in an hierarchical order. The Commission did not accept this. Rather, the Commission has preferred to follow the practice of previous Commissions and apply the statutory criteria as each affects the particular electorate under consideration.

Given the primacy of the electoral population quota, the Commission was unable to form any electoral district that contained the exact quota and was at the same time consistent with the other statutory criteria. The Commission recognises the importance of equality of representation through the life of the Electoral Districts (in the view of this Commission, probably through to 2013) and the desirability of changing existing boundaries as little as possible. The proposed boundaries published in May 2007 have therefore made significant use of the quota tolerance in order to meet these specific considerations while best balancing the other criteria of the Act.

Many objectors and counter-objectors identified suggestions for improvements to boundaries. It was possible to meet the claims of a significant number of the objectors and counter-objectors within population quota tolerances and other criteria. This has meant that the Electoral Districts now determined depart more from the population quota than the proposed boundaries.

North Island

The Commission made no changes to the electorates of Whangarei, North Shore, Northcote and Tauranga.

Continued strong population growth, particularly in Auckland, dictated the creation of one new electoral district, which will occur in the south of Auckland.

The existing electoral districts of East Coast Bays, Rodney and Helensville are the major growth areas in the north and are projected to increase strongly relative to the quota. They required a substantial redrawing of boundaries. Progressive adjustments to boundaries in neighbouring electoral districts have occurred as a consequence. These adjustments commenced from Waitakere and affected all electorates through to Tāmaki.

In the south of Auckland, the electorates of Clevedon, Manurewa, Manukau East and Māngere have experienced substantial population growth. Both Clevedon and Manukau East are projected to grow well beyond the allowable quota tolerance. All of these electoral districts therefore required substantial adjustment to meet the population quota. This has led to the creation of an additional electorate, which the Commission has named Botany. This additional electorate comprises much of the Botany Community Board area and is centered on Flat Bush where a new town is being created. A further consequence is that the population redistribution has led to the creation of an electorate centered on Papakura. As well, there is movement of the balance of the population from Clevedon into an electorate that receives part of the existing Port Waikato electorate including Tuakau, Pukekohe and Waiuku. This electorate now has the name of Hunua. The existing Port Waikato electorate, having been absorbed into Taranaki-King Country, Piako, Hunua and Papakura electorates to meet quota requirements, now disappears. Piako has been renamed Waikato.

With the exception of the Tauranga electorate, the remaining 4 electorates in the Waikato region comprising, Bay of Plenty, Coromandel, Hamilton East and Hamilton West have required adjustment. The excess growth in population in the electorate of Bay of Plenty allowed the quota deficit in neighbouring East Coast electorate to be addressed by moving the north west boundary of the East Coast electorate up to the boundary between the Whakatane and Western Bay of Plenty Districts. After hearing objections, the Commission has been able to rejoin the Cook Ward of the Gisborne District Council to East Coast.

The seven central NorthIsland electorates south of Hamilton were below quota tolerance and are projected to decline in population relative to the quota. The ranges between the existing electorates of Taupo and Taranaki-King Country form natural boundaries which are difficult to cross. The boundaries have therefore, generally had to move north. Palmerston North becomes a wholly urban electorate. Rangitīkei has a significant adjustment in that Taumarunui is included in the electorate. The population required to make up the deficit for the Whanganui electorate was achieved by moving its western boundary westward to now comprise the Territorial Authority districts of Wanganui and South Taranaki. The electorate of Taranaki-King Country was adjusted northwards to include Raglan and west to Ohaupo. The new electorate of Taupō now moves northward to include Cambridge and the electorate of Rotorua extends north to the Bay of Plenty coast around Maketu. Being constrained by the electoral population quota, the Commission was not able to meet the objections relating to the electorates of Whanganui and Taranaki-King Country as this would have substantially disregarded other criteria.

After hearing objections to the Commission‛s proposals in respect of the electorates of East Coast, Napier, Tukituki and Wairarapa, some adjustments were made which better reflect the criterion of community of interest particularly in respect of Napier and East Coast.

Within the 7 electorates in the Wellington/Horowhenua region, the Commission was able to satisfy individual electorate population requirements by moving populations amongst neighbouring electorates. The Commission moved the population of Belmont into the Rimutaka electorate. The Commission changed the name of the Ohariu-Belmont electorate to Ōhariu as a consequence.

South Island

The Act requires that there be 16 general electorates in the South Island. The Commission adopted the view of previous Commissions that the Southern Alps provide the most significant natural barrier and thus have a strong influence on the shape and extent of electoral boundaries in the South Island. When considering the proposed West Coast-Tasman electoral district, the Commission formed the view that the already very large geographical extent of the electoral district justified the retention as far as possible of the existing boundary with a population below the quota tolerance. The population is projected to continue to decline relative to the quota and some adjustment to the boundary was necessary. The northern boundary was therefore adjusted to move closer to the Nelson area between Wakefield and Brightwater. This proposal attracted 14 objections including a petition of 538 signatures. The Commission partially met most of the objections to the extent that Wakefield is re-united with its neighbouring towns of Foxhill and Belgrove, but because of the quota requirement, the Commission was unable to include these areas in the Nelson electorate where the objectors wished to be.

As was the case for the previous Commission, all 7 electorates from Rakaia south have declined in population relative to quota requirements. In 2002, the Commission noted that the overall relative decline would have justified a progressive northward movement of boundaries from Invercargill. The 2002 Commission considered on balance that an approach of adopting minimal change was preferable then in order to preserve boundaries and communities of interest wherever possible. The position now is that the Commission has had to face significant changes to the electorates to meet the quota requirements, resulting in a progressive northward movement of boundaries from Invercargill. The population south of the RakaiaRiver and east of the Southern Alps was sufficient to create 6 electorates. The northward movement has resulted in the Otago electorate losing Queenstown to Clutha-Southland and consequently absorbing a significant portion of the existing Aoraki electorate. The Commission has renamed the electorate Waitaki. The balance of the Aoraki electorate has moved to a new electorate including Timaru and Ashburton up to the RakaiaRiver. The Commission has named this electorate Rangitata.

As a consequence of the northward shift a major part of the Rakaia electorate north of the river has combined with population from the Banks Peninsula electorate to become the new electorate of Selwyn. The remainder of the Banks Peninsula electorate now has the name Port Hills.

The same approach was adopted in respect of the greater Christchurch urban and surrounding rural electoral districts. Adjustments have been made to reflect population growth principally in the electorates of Waimakariri and Banks Peninsula (now Port Hills). As a result of hearing objections, further adjustments have been made so that the electoral districts now proposed better reflect the communities of interest overall when considered alongside the other criteria. With the exception of Waimakariri, all Christchurch electorates are essentially urban electorates.

The Commission made no changes to the boundaries of the Kaikōura electorate.

Comment

The present method of division of electoral population has been enacted by Parliament for 50 years and has remained unaltered, although a change was made to the number of Electoral Districts for the South Island with the introduction of MMP. Throughout those years, successive Commissions have endeavoured to create Electoral Districts of reasonably equal population size and at the same time have regard to existing electoral boundaries and the other criteria of section 35(3)(f) of the Act. The task for this Commission has been to search for a result that provides the best balance of the criteria, even though in many cases it has not been possible to recognise each of them fully. The comments of previous Commissions that electoral populations and communities of interest do not come in tidy parcels of the specified quota continues to apply. The Commission also notes that, having regard to the geographic size of electorates, an electorate may contain more than one distinct community of interest.

Final Boundaries

Appended, as Schedule C, is a table showing each new electorate, its electoral population, the variation from quota, and the projected population variations, from projected quota, for 2008 and 2011.

 

Commission's Full Report | Interactive Maps