Onehunga (New Zealand electorate)

Onehunga, initially with the formal name of Town of Onehunga, is a former New Zealand parliamentary electorate in the south of the city of Auckland. Between 1861 and 1881, and between 1938 and 1996, it was represented by seven Members of Parliament. It was a stronghold for the Labour Party.

Onehunga electorate boundaries between 1993 and 1996.

Population centres

In the 1860 electoral redistribution, the House of Representatives increased the number of representatives by 12, reflecting the immense population growth since the original electorates were established in 1853. The redistribution created 15 additional electorates with between one and three members, and Onehunga was one of the single-member electorates.^[1] The electorates were distributed to provinces so that every province had at least two members. Within each province, the number of registered electors by electorate varied greatly.^[1]

The 1931 New Zealand census had been cancelled due to the Great Depression, so the 1937 electoral redistribution had to take ten years of population growth into account. The increasing population imbalance between the North and South Islands had slowed, and only one electorate seat was transferred from south to north. Five electorates were abolished, one former electorate (Onehunga) was re-established, and four electorates were created for the first time.^[2]

The electorate was urban, and comprised a number of suburbs in the southern part of Auckland.

History

The electorate existed in the 19th century from 1861 to 1871 as Town of Onehunga, and then from 1871 to 1881 as Onehunga.^[3] For the whole period the seat was held by George O'Rorke,^[4] who became Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1879.^[5]

Onehunga was recreated in 1938,^[3] and lasted to 1996. With the introduction of MMP in 1996, Onehunga and Panmure were combined into the new electorate of Maungakiekie.

Except for 1990–1993, Onehunga was held by Labour from its 1938 recreation.

Members of Parliament

The Onehunga electorate was represented by seven Members of Parliament.

Key

Independent Labour National

Election	Winner
(electorate established as Town of Onehunga in 1860)
1861 election		George O'Rorke
1866 election		George O'Rorke
(electorate renamed Onehunga in 1871)
1871 election		George O'Rorke
1875 election
1879 election
(Electorate abolished 1881–1938)
1938 election		Arthur Osborne
1943 election
1946 election
1949 election
1951 election
1953 by-election		Hugh Watt
1954 election
1957 election
1960 election
1963 election
1966 election
1969 election
1972 election
1975 election		Frank Rogers
1978 election		Frank Rogers
1980 by-election		Fred Gerbic
1981 election
1984 election
1987 election
1990 election		Grahame Thorne
1993 election		Richard Northey
(Electorate abolished in 1996; see Maungakiekie)

Election results

1993 election

1993 general election: Onehunga ^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Richard Northey	7,183	35.54
	National	Grahame Thorne	6,776	33.53	−9.62
	Alliance	Matt Robson	3,503	17.33
	NZ First	Ian Shearer	2,132	10.55
	Christian Heritage	Barry Paterson	318	1.57
	McGillicuddy Serious	Richard Foster	110	0.54
	Natural Law	Bryan Lee	95	0.47
	Independent	Warwick Jordan	89	0.44
Majority			407	2.01
Turnout			20,206	84.44	+9.28
Registered electors			23,929

1990 election

1990 general election: Onehunga ^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Grahame Thorne	8,290	43.15
	Labour	Fred Gerbic	7,678	39.96	−16.29
	Green	Laurie Ross	1,909	9.93
	NewLabour	Mark Philip	1,016	5.28
	Social Credit	Janice Matthews	170	0.88
	Democrats	Arthur Drabble	148	0.77
Majority			612	3.18
Turnout			19,211	75.16	−9.22
Registered electors			25,557

1987 election

1987 general election: Onehunga ^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Fred Gerbic	10,753	56.25	+5.01
	National	Andrew Stanley	7,424	38.84
	Democrats	Thomas Keith Park	937	4.90
Majority			3,329	17.41	−2.93
Turnout			19,114	84.38	−5.17
Registered electors			22,652

1984 election

1984 general election: Onehunga ^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Fred Gerbic	11,354	51.24	+3.97
	National	Carol Freeman	6,846	30.90
	NZ Party	Peter Blakeborogh	2,894	13.06
	Social Credit	Deborah Maree Terei	841	3.79
	Values	Ruth Helen Gardner Symons	137	0.61
	Independent	Stanley Lusby	83	0.37
Majority			4,508	20.34	+9.69
Turnout			22,155	89.55	+1.54
Registered electors			24,740

1981 election

1981 general election: Onehunga ^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Fred Gerbic	8,925	47.27	−0.85
	National	Sue Wood	6,913	36.61	−2.63
	Social Credit	Stuart Perry	3,040	16.10	+15.11
Majority			2,012	10.65	+1.78
Turnout			18,878	88.01	+37.78
Registered electors			21,451

1980 by-election

1980 Onehunga by-election^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Fred Gerbic	6,543	48.12
	National	Sue Wood	5,336	39.24
	Social Credit	Thomas Keith Park	1,535	11.29	−0.06
	Independent	Stuart Perry	134	0.99
	Cheer Up	Vince Terreni	35	0.26
	Imperial British Conservative	Max Overton	17	0.13
Majority			1,207	8.87
Turnout			13,600	50.23	−10.04
Registered electors			27,071
	Labour hold		Swing

1978 election

1978 general election: Onehunga ^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frank Rogers	8,837	46.99	+0.86
	National	Barrie Hutchinson	7,420	39.45
	Social Credit	Thomas Keith Park	2,135	11.35
	Values	Dianne Paton	390	2.07
	National Socialist	Colin King-Ansell	22	0.11
Majority			1,417	7.53	+1.71
Turnout			18,804	60.27	−15.94
Registered electors			31,199

1975 election

1975 general election: Onehunga ^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frank Rogers	8,264	46.13
	National	Kevin O'Brien	7,220	40.30
	Social Credit	Judy Charlton	1,264	7.05
	Values	Jack Frost	1,129	6.30
	Socialist Unity	John Willis	35	0.19
Majority			1,044	5.82
Turnout			17,912	76.21	−10.46
Registered electors			23,501

1972 election

1972 general election: Onehunga ^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Hugh Watt	10,053	58.67	−1.23
	National	Peter Blakeborough	5,218	30.45
	Social Credit	Alf Benson	1,669	9.74	+1.15
	New Democratic	Arthur Bree	194	1.13
Majority			4,835	28.21	−0.19
Turnout			17,134	86.67	+0.01
Registered electors			19,767

1969 election

1969 general election: Onehunga ^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Hugh Watt	9,574	59.90	+1.38
	National	Daphne Double	5,035	31.50	+2.83
	Social Credit	Alf Benson	1,373	8.59
Majority			4,539	28.40	−1.45
Turnout			15,982	85.66	−1.86
Registered electors			18,657

1966 election

1966 general election: Onehunga ^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Hugh Watt	8,361	58.52	−4.61
	National	Daphne Double	4,096	28.67
	Social Credit	James Robinson	1,828	12.79
Majority			4,265	29.85	−3.98
Turnout			14,285	83.80	−5.10
Registered electors			17,045

1963 election

1963 general election: Onehunga ^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Hugh Watt	9,567	63.13	−1.96
	National	J P Mason	4,440	29.29
	Social Credit	John Clarence Leitch	741	4.88	+0.93
	Liberal	W F Lauder	274	1.80
	Communist	Stan Hieatt	132	0.87
Majority			5,127	33.83	−1.03
Turnout			15,154	88.90	+9.73
Registered electors			17,045

1960 election

1960 general election: Onehunga ^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Hugh Watt	8,785	65.09	−2.23
	National	Paul Brian Phillips	4,080	30.23
	Social Credit	John Clarence Leitch	534	3.95
	Communist	Donald McEwan	97	0.71
Majority			4,705	34.86	−4.39
Turnout			13,496	79.17	−14.48
Registered electors			17,045

1957 election

1957 general election: Onehunga ^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Hugh Watt	9,752	67.32	+4.83
	National	Donald Watson	4,066	28.07
	Social Credit	George Alexander Pealing	667	4.60
Majority			5,686	39.25	+8.89
Turnout			14,485	93.65	+2.16
Registered electors			15,466

1954 election

1954 general election: Onehunga ^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Hugh Watt	9,033	62.49	−4.50
	National	Alfred E. Allen	4,644	32.12
	Social Credit	Ernest Richard James	777	5.37
Majority			4,389	30.36	−3.61
Turnout			14,454	91.49	+28.01
Registered electors			15,797

1953 by-election

1953 Onehunga by-election^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Hugh Watt	6,868	66.99
	National	Leonard Bradley	3,385	33.01	−10.01
Informal votes			13	0.13
Majority			3,483	33.97
Turnout			13,749	63.48	−23.51
Registered electors			16,171
	Labour hold		Swing

1951 election

1951 general election: Onehunga ^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Arthur Osborne	8,017	56.98	−0.31
	National	Leonard Bradley	6,051	43.02
Majority			1,966	13.97	−1.99
Turnout			14,068	86.99	−5.02
Registered electors			16,171

1949 election

1949 general election: Onehunga ^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Arthur Osborne	8,255	57.29	−5.06
	National	Alan A. Coates	5,955	41.33
	Communist	Roy Stanley	198	1.37
Majority			2,300	15.96	−8.75
Turnout			14,408	92.01	−2.21
Registered electors			15,658

1946 election

1946 general election: Onehunga ^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Arthur Osborne	8,639	62.35	+6.67
	National	William Kenneth King	5,215	37.64
Majority			3,424	24.71	+4.13
Turnout			13,854	94.22	+5.07
Registered electors			14,703

1943 election

1943 general election: Onehunga^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Arthur Osborne	8,993	55.68	−8.88
	National	John Park	5,704	35.31	+0.36
	Democratic Labour	Norman Douglas	1,099	6.80
	Real Democracy	Theodore Edwin Somerville	287	1.77
	People's Movement	Louis Edgar Read	67	0.41
Informal votes			115	0.71	+0.21
Majority			3,324	20.58	−9.00
Turnout			16,150	89.15	−3.62
Registered electors			18,115

1938 election

1938 general election: Onehunga^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Arthur Osborne	9,412	64.56
	National	John Park	5,098	34.95
Informal votes			73	0.50
Majority			4,314	29.58
Turnout			14,583	92.77
Registered electors			15,718

Notes

^ ^a ^b McRobie 1989, p. 35.
^ McRobie 1989, pp. 87–92.
^ ^a ^b Wilson 1985, p. 269.
^ Wilson 1985, p. 225.
^ Rogers, Frank. "O'Rorke, George Maurice". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
^ Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place (Technical report). New Zealand Chief Electoral Office. 1993.
^ Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place (Technical report). New Zealand Chief Electoral Office. 1990.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Norton 1988, p. 296.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Norton 1988, p. 295.
^ "The New Zealand Official Year-Book, 1951–52". Statistics New Zealand. Archived from the original on 23 June 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
^ "The General Election, 1949". National Library. 1950. pp. 1–5, 8. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
^ "The General Election, 1946". National Library. 1947. pp. 1–11, 14. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
^ "Electoral". The New Zealand Herald. Vol. 80, no. 24713. 13 October 1943. p. 5. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
^ "The General Election, 1938". National Library. 1939. p. 4. Retrieved 30 November 2014.

References

McRobie, Alan (1989). Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books. ISBN 0-477-01384-8.
Norton, Clifford (1988). New Zealand parliamentary election results, 1946–1987. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington Department of Political Science. ISBN 0-475-11200-8.
Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.

[FOOTNOTEMcRobie198935-1] McRobie 1989, p. 35.

[FOOTNOTEMcRobie198987–92-2] McRobie 1989, pp. 87–92.

[FOOTNOTEWilson1985269-3] Wilson 1985, p. 269.

[FOOTNOTEWilson1985225-4] Wilson 1985, p. 225.

[DNZB_O'Rorke-5] Rogers, Frank. "O'Rorke, George Maurice". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 14 January 2012.

[6] Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place (Technical report). New Zealand Chief Electoral Office. 1993.

[7] Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place (Technical report). New Zealand Chief Electoral Office. 1990.

[FOOTNOTENorton1988296-8] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Norton 1988, p. 296.

[FOOTNOTENorton1988295-9] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Norton 1988, p. 295.

[10] "The New Zealand Official Year-Book, 1951–52". Statistics New Zealand. Archived from the original on 23 June 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2012.

[11] "The General Election, 1949". National Library. 1950. pp. 1–5, 8. Retrieved 3 January 2014.

[12] "The General Election, 1946". National Library. 1947. pp. 1–11, 14. Retrieved 1 January 2014.

[13] "Electoral". The New Zealand Herald. Vol. 80, no. 24713. 13 October 1943. p. 5. Retrieved 15 May 2017.

[1938_election-14] "The General Election, 1938". National Library. 1939. p. 4. Retrieved 30 November 2014.

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