Latest news with #RepresentationCommission
RNZ News
14 hours ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
Tauranga politicians remain outside the area, despite electoral boundary changes
Sam Uffindell is the MP for Tauranga, but lives with his family in Paengaroa, west of Te Puke. Photo: Supplied / Hagen Hopkins Both the both Tauranga mayor and local electorate MP live outside the area, and this will not change under the new electoral boundaries. But MP Sam Uffindell said living 20 minutes outside the electorate had not stopped him being able the serve his community. Boundary and name changes for the 2026 General Election were released by the Representation Commission last week . The Tauranga electorate - represented by Uffindell - expanded westward to the boundary with Coromandel, while losing Mt Maunganui to the renamed Mt Maunganui electorate, which is currently called Bay of Plenty and represented by Tom Rutherford. "We lose Mt Maunganui to the newly renamed electorate, but we are very fortunate to pick up the fantastic communities of Te Puna, Minden, and a big chunk of the Kaimais," said Uffindell about the changes. Other parts of the southern outskirts of Tauranga city move into the Rotorua electorate, currently represented by Todd McClay. RNZ approached Uffindell to see if the changes meant he was no longer living in the electorate - only to find out he never was. He lives with his family in Paengaroa, west of Te Puke. "I think the important thing for the people of Tauranga to know is that I can get there really quickly and if it means I have to leave a little bit earlier then that's exactly what I do," Uffindell said. Tauranga mayor Mahe Drysdale also lives outside of the area , about an hour away south-west of the city and near Cambridge. Drysdale had said he would move if elected but had not done so yet . Uffindell said he was always looking at properties within the electorate. "But it's a fine balance between family and schools and all of that," he said. Uffindell represented the National Party and said that every electoral cycle the party must reselect their candidate. He said he planned to stand for selection again. "I will seek selection later in the year to be the National Party candidate, and hopefully the good people of Tauranga elect me again to be their representative," he said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
The Spinoff
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Spinoff
Bye bye, Rongotai – but why?
Out of 50,000-plus registered electors in Rongotai, just three proposed changing the electorate's name. One of those who didn't, former race relations commissioner Joris de Bres, is baffled by the decision to ditch a te reo name for Wellington Bays. When the new electoral boundaries were announced by the Representation Commission last Friday, there was one that took me completely by surprise. Although the changes to the boundaries of my electorate were relatively minor, the commission has decided to change the name from Rongotai to Wellington Bays. From a Māori name to a Pākehā name. I didn't see it coming because when the proposed changes were published in March they didn't include a name change for Rongotai. By the time submissions closed a month later, however, three people had lodged objections, not to a name change, but to the lack of a name change. Three people out of 50,000-plus registered electors in the area. If anyone noticed when the submissions were published in May, they could be forgiven for thinking that this was a ridiculously small number of objections. Only one of the three actually suggested the name 'Wellington Bays'. It was Neale Jones, well known Wellington political lobbyist and broadcaster, former chief of staff to Jacinda Ardern and Andrew Little. He said 'the name of Rongotai does not reflect the geography or identity of the area. As a suburb, Rongotai only has 40 people. As the electorate's boundaries grow the link becomes even less evident.' That argument is a little disingenuous, as the Rongotai isthmus is largely occupied by Wellington airport. But it is the bridge between the south coast, the Miramar Peninsula and Wellington Harbour, in other words all the bays that Neale Jones goes on to list in his submission. The local boys' secondary school is called Rongotai College and it proudly proclaims: Ko te Moana Raukawa ki te tonga (Cook Strait to the south) Ko te Motukairangi ki te rāwhiti (Miramar to the east) Ki te uru, ko Whataitai taniwha (to the west, Whataitai) Ko te Whanganui-a-Tara ki te raki (Wellington to the north) Kei waenganui ko te Kura Taitama ko Rongotai ( Rongotai in the middle) Jones said 'I am open to the idea of another te reo Māori name but do not pretend to be expert enough to suggest one. However, one thing that does connect much of the electorate is that it is near the coast or has a view of the coast… Therefore I suggest the name Wellington Bays.' Funny that, because Rongotai translates as the sound of the sea, or for that matter the coast. You can hear it in the bays. He says there is a precedent for the name with the Auckland electorate of East Coast Bays. But unlike Wellington Bays, East Coast Bays is an actual and well-known name for that part of Auckland's North Shore. The second objector, John Jamieson, imaginatively proposed that Rongotai and its central neighbour be renamed North Wellington and South Wellington. Unlike Jones, the third objector, Craig Spanhake, had no reservations about suggesting Māori names. In addition to Wellington South and Wellington Suburbs, he put forward 'Te Waha o te Ika a Maui (means the mouth of Maui fish), Taputeranga (the centrally located island in Island Bay), Te Raukawa Moana (Cook Strait), and Paekawakawa-Motukairangi'. In its report, the Representation Commission said that it adopted the names Wellington North and Wellington Bays 'to more accurately reflect their current disposition and likely direction of future growth'. Name changes for a number of other electorates were rejected 'for reasons including lack of public awareness of the proposed name, lack of public feedback through the objections and counter-objections process' . So, on the strength of one name suggestion by a Pākehā man, and objections to the current name by two other men who are quite likely Pākehā, a commission comprising seven Pākehā men made the decision to discard the Māori name and replace it with a Pākehā one. The majority of commissioners are heads of government agencies, the chair is Judge Kevin Kelly and the government and opposition nominees are former MPs Roger Sowry and Andrew Little. There would have been one Pākehā woman, the government statistician, but she delegated the role to her deputy. Andrew Little lives in the Rongotai electorate and is a candidate for the Wellington mayoralty. The present members for Rongotai and Wellington Central, Green Party MPs Julie Anne Genter and Tamatha Paul, have launched a petition against the change and are looking for legal avenues to challenge it. The current mayor of Wellington, Tory Whanau, has endorsed the petition. Is it too late? I hope not. I'm a Pākehā male too, but it's bye bye Bays from me.
Scoop
2 days ago
- Politics
- Scoop
Greens Launch Petition To Restore Te Reo Electorate Names In Capital
Green Party Wellington MPs Julie Anne Genter and Tamatha Paul have launched a petition calling for Māori place names to be restored to Wellington electorates. This comes after the Rongotai electorate was changed to an English name with minimal community consultation and zero engagement with mana whenua. 'Rongotai means 'sound of the sea,' it has been the Te Reo name of our electorate for almost three decades and has been taken away with next to no consultation,' says Green Party MP for Rongotai Julie Anne Genter. 'Our communities deserve to have a say on the name of their electorate. This was a decision based on the feedback of three people. This is not good enough, and this must change. ''Rongotai' accurately and beautifully captured the geography and spirit of our electorate,' says Julie Anne Genter. 'This is yet another attack on Te Reo, we have seen it with road signs, passports and now the name of an electorate,' says Green Party MP for Wellington Central Tamatha Paul. 'We are calling for the Representation Committee to reverse its decision to strip an electorate of a Te Reo name it has had for 30 years. 'It is absolutely ridiculous three people were able to erase and whitewash such an iconic part of Pōneke. Seeing Wellington Central go from one English name to another adds insult to injury,' says Tamatha Paul. Notes: Wording of the petition: We're calling on the Representation Committee to restore the Māori place names for our Pōneke electorates. RESTORE OUR MĀORI NAMES - PŌNEKE [Petition text] The Representation Commission announced on Friday 8 August that the reo Māori names of two Wellington electorates, Rongotai and Ōhāriu will be gone from the election in 2026. Rongotai is being renamed 'Wellington Bays' and Ōhāriu will be split between the new 'Wellington North' and 'Kenepuru' electorates. Ultimately, these naming decisions were made following a limited public consultation, with only five people submitting on the name changes. Only two people supported changing the name of Wellington Central, and only three people supported erasing the name of Rongotai, with just one submission suggesting Wellington Bays. Cultural visibility is one of the most important aspects of language revitalisation. Some say that 'The namer of things is the claimer of things'. There were no specific submissions on the name changes from Te Reo Māori experts or mana whenua. It appears that there were no Māori involved in making these decisions for general electorates. Half of all Māori are on the General Roll so these decisions impact Māori. We are concerned that Wellington Mayoral Candidate Andrew Little, who is on the Representation Commission, didn't have the foresight to ensure the Commission engaged with local representatives on this issue, and hope that this isn't indicative of his approach to local governance. We call on the Representation Committee to reverse these decisions, and take seriously the wishes of the communities of Te Whanganui a Tara on the names of their electorates.
The Spinoff
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Spinoff
Boundary changes shift the political landscape ahead of 2026
The Representation Commission has confirmed new electorate boundaries and names for the next election – including a few last-minute surprises, writes Catherine McGregor in today's extract from The Bulletin. So long, Ōhāriu The Representation Commission's final electorate boundary changes, released on Friday, confirmed much of what was proposed in March, including the major reshuffle across the Wellington region. Three electorates – Ōhāriu, Mana and Ōtaki – will become two: Kapiti and Kenepuru. The shake-up means Porirua is split down the middle, with its more affluent northern suburbs joining Kapiti and its southern, Labour-leaning communities forming part of Kenepuru. In the capital, Wellington Central shifts north to take in Khandallah, Wadestown and Ngaio, while Rongotai extends to Brooklyn and Mount Cook. Hutt South gains Newlands, and Remutaka moves south into Epuni. Ōhāriu MP Greg O'Connor knew it was coming – he told The Post ahead of the announcement that he was resigned to his electorate 'disappearing in a puff of smoke over Mount Kaukau'. His Labour colleague, Mana's Barbara Edmonds, now inherits much of the territory and O'Connor said they'll make a decision together on who will run for the new Kenepuru electorate. Balmoral: hell no, we won't go The biggest surprise wasn't in Wellington but in Auckland, where the commission backtracked on a plan to move part of Balmoral into Mt Albert. After an orchestrated campaign – including 178 objections from just a handful of streets – the area will remain in David Seymour's Epsom electorate. As Hayden Donnell relays this morning in The Spinoff, submissions ranged from the parochial – 'We probably shop at the Dominion Rd Woolworths, walk up Mt Eden on a Saturday (not Mt Albert)' – to the political: 'I voted for David Seymour consistently and find it unpalatable that this right should be taken from me'. Some warned, incorrectly, that the change would affect grammar school zones. The commission listened, and the Balmoralites 'will remain in the plush Act electorate of Epsom and not the grotty, Labour-infested nearby outpost of Mt Albert', Hayden writes. 'Finally … a win for wealthy Aucklanders.' What's in a name? Four electorate name changes were confirmed. As 1News reports, Rānui becomes Henderson, East Coast becomes East Cape, Wellington Central becomes Wellington North, and Rongotai becomes Wellington Bays. Not all MPs were thrilled. Green MP Julie Anne Genter lamented losing 'Rongotai' – which translates to 'sound of the sea' – saying 'It will always be Rongotai in my heart'. Wellington Central's Tamatha Paul called the lack of a te reo name for the new electorate 'a massive missed opportunity' and said the 'generic' Wellington North 'could be anywhere in the world'. She tells The Post this morning that she's launching a petition to have the two names restored. Selwyn surges, Wigram shifts In Canterbury, surging population growth in Selwyn district has reshaped both Selwyn and neighbouring Wigram. Around 11,000 voters in Prebbleton and Templeton move from Selwyn into Wigram, while Wigram loses left-leaning suburbs Addington and Spreydon to Christchurch Central. In March, Joel MacManus predicted the shift would push Wigram from leaning Labour to a 'genuine toss-up'; perhaps not coincidentally, Labour's Megan Woods, Wigram's current MP, announced she'll stand list-only in 2026. For National's Nicola Grigg, meanwhile, the redraw means she no longer lives in her Selwyn electorate, though she plans to recontest it. See all the changes on the big map here.
The Spinoff
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Spinoff
Heartwarming: well-to-do Aucklanders finally get a political win
Balmoral residents insisted they were from Epsom, not grotty Mt Albert, and they spammed the Representation Commission with complaints until it agreed. For many huge nerds politically attuned patriots, the Representation Commission's final adjustments to the electorate boundaries for next year's general election dropped with the clanging thud of failure. Following the announcement of the proposed changes in March, 717 objections and counter-objections were submitted by concerned members of the public. Ryan Maguire had attempted to redraw the country's entire political map, writing detailed critiques on almost every proposed boundary change. He would find out his feat was, for the most part, an unsuccessful effort to push a democratic rock up a bureaucratic hill. Mark Croucher would not be placed in the Whangārei electorate, despite, as per his submission, living 15 minutes from Whangārei. Neither would the Labour Party succeed in changing the Northcote electorate's name to Kaipātiki, in line with feedback it had received. But at least one plucky group of upstarts could claim a win from the commission's announcement. Residents of a well-to-do corner of what some cartographers might controversially claim is Balmoral got the news they wanted, finding out they will remain in the plush Act electorate of Epsom and not the grotty, Labour-infested nearby outpost of Mt Albert. Finally, you might say, a win for wealthy Aucklanders. But it didn't come without a lot of hard graft. Of the 636 objections submitted to the Representation Commission on its proposed nationwide adjustments, 178 came from a small group of streets between St Lukes and the Mt Eden shops. Despite Google Maps' defamatory insistence they're from Balmoral, the residents of Balmoral Rd and its surrounds told the commission they identify as being from Mt Eden, and in an electoral sense, Epsom. Whole families wrote identically worded submissions on their total alienation from Mt Albert. 'People in this area look to Mt Eden, not Mt Albert, for their day to day life, eg shopping, amentities [sic], community activities,' wrote Mrs Tracy Peirce. 'People in this area look to Mt Eden, not Mt Albert, for their day to day life, eg shopping, amentities, community activities,' wrote Mr Craig Peirce. 'People in this area look to Mt Eden, not Mt Albert, for their day to day life, eg shopping, amentities, community activities,' wrote Luke and Isaac Peirce. A host of Mt Albert businesses and places were caught in the crossfire. 'We probably shop at the Dominion Rd Woolworths, walk up Mt Eden on a Saturday (not Mt Albert), go to Mt Eden De Post for a drink (not Albert's Post),' wrote Kevin Adair. The Albert's Post pub might wonder why it's catching strays, but it has nothing on Mt Albert Grammar. Dozens of submissions echoed a leaflet dropped around alleged Balmoral that claimed the changes would 'split the Epsom Girls Grammar zone'. They raised fears about being forced out of zone for Auckland and Epsom Girls Grammars and toward a less-heralded grammar or even non-grammar school. Those claims were untrue in a literal sense. Electorate boundaries have no impact on school zones. But spiritually and metaphysically, they were persuasive. If the Representation Commission could make the residents of Herbert, Croydon and Fairview Rds vote in the fetid booths of Mt Albert, what was to stop it shuttling their children to, ungrgh, Marist College? Nothing, was the answer. Some submitters eschewed talk of amenities or school zones and went straight for the jugular, stating they had no truck with the yucky and perhaps even poor people of the neighbouring shire. 'Mt Albert is quite some distance away from us and we have not made the sacrifices to get into the area with its excellent school zones to have it changed to our detriment both practically and financially,' said Shane Farley. 'I voted for David Seymour consistently and find it unpalatable that this right should be taken from me,' said Robyn Cochrane. 'I align my values with Mt Eden area residents, not Mt Albert,' said Mark Tomkins. Some might see this as a repeat of 2014, when snobbery and 'misinformation about school zones' got the blame for 700 people objecting to being moved out of Epsom and into the Mt Roskill electorate. Indeed, one submitter, Peter Thompson, pointed out that many of the people opposing the proposed adjustment relied on disinformation put out by someone he thought had a 'vested interest in retaining the current boundary settings'. 'Suggested solution,' his submission to the commission read. 'Investigate and expose those responsible for trying to rort the democratic process. Disregard submissions premised on misleading information.' 'Shut the fuck up, Peter,' came the reply, in the form of Friday's decision affirming the Mt Eden-identifying residents of Balmoral. The complainers won. They'll get to stay in the Epsom electorate, along with those with whom their values align. To make up for it, Arch Hill, a suburb separated from Mt Albert by an eight-lane motorway and at least 10 minutes' driving even in good conditions, will be shunted into the electorate currently held by Labour's Helen White. Its residents may be confused by the news, seeing as they're closer to the city centre than the inner west. But there are no grammar schools in Arch Hill. Their objections are unlikely to get much cut-through.
