Proposed changes in Central Wellington. Photo:
The lower North Island will lose one electorate, under new proposals from the Representation Commission.
It has proposed creating two new electorates, called Kenepuru and Kapiti, and removing Ohāriu, Mana, and Ōtaki.
Other boundaries in the wider region would also change to reflect the new configurations.
"Our review is driven by population numbers and the need to ensure each electorate has about the same number of people living in it," said Judge Kevin Kelly, the chair of the Representation Commission.
Rongotai. Photo:
The changes are because almost all of the electorates in the lower North Island were deemed to be below population quota (the average population in an electorate, calculated by StatsNZ using information from the 2023 Census and electoral roll data).
"This means these electorates need to increase the population in each of these electorates to meet the quota," Judge Kelly said.
The Wellington electorate of Rongotai would absorb parts of Wellington Central, including the suburbs of Mount Cook and Brooklyn.
Wellington Central would then take parts of Ōhāriu, including Wadestown, Ngaio, Khandallah and Broadmedows.
The rest of Ōhāriu (Johnsonville, Churton Park, Glenside, and the southern part of Tawa) goes into the new Kenepuru electorate, along with northern Tawa, Porirua city centre, eastern Porirua, and Titahi Bay from the Mana electorate.
Kapiti will consist of Ōtaki, Paraparaumu, and Waikanae from the Ōtaki electorate, and Raumati, Paekākāriki, Camborne, Plimmerton, Paremata, and Whitby from the Mana electorate.
In West Auckland, the New Lynn, Kelston, and Te Atatu electorates would be re-configured, with the proposed new names of Waitākere, Glendene, and Rānui.
In South Auckland, Panmure-Ōtahuhu just becomes Ōtahuhu, with boundaries moved south.
Takanini, one of the electorates with a population above quota, will have its boundaries redrawn so its populations are distributed to surrounding electorates.
Judge Kelly said there had been some consideration to remove an electorate from Auckland instead of the lower North Island, current electorates in the lower North Island were below quota and predicted to fall further, whereas Auckland's population was growing.
Kapiti. Photo:
"With the increasing population, the projections on population growth, it may very well be that you have to add one in in the future. So taking one out now and then, adding in later, all of those factors considered made us think that the better option was to focus on the lower North Island first," he said.
In the Bay of Plenty, there are proposed changes to anticipate projected population growth.
The Tauranga electorate takes the western part of the existing Bay of Plenty electorate (including parts of the Western Bay of Plenty and Te Puna), while the Bay of Plenty electorate takes the Mount Maunganui part of Tauranga, with the electorate being re-named Mount Maunganui to reflect the changes.
There is only one change proposed in the Māori seats: moving parts of Te Tai Tonga into Ikaroa-Rāwhiti, in the Lower Hutt area.
The South Island is largely unaffected, with the only major proposal being moving the towns of Templeton and Prebbleton from the Selwyn electorate into the Wigram electorate, to reflect the population growth in Selwyn.
Maps of the proposed new electoral boundaries announces on 25 March, 2025. Photo: Supplied / Electoral Commission
The public will be able to submit any written rejections until 27 April, and counter objections until 21 May.
Public hearings will take place from June 9 to 18, before the final boundaries are released on 8 August.
Judge Kelly said the proposals were not a foregone conclusion, and anticipated people would have strong views about the electorates they belonged to, and their names.
"This is a Starter for 10, if you like. This is where the public really needs to get engaged and let us know what they think.
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