Dunedin North (New Zealand electorate)
Dunedin North is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. It was established for the 1905 election and has existed since. It is currently held by David Clark of the New Zealand Labour Party, who replaced the long-standing representative Pete Hodgson. It is considered a safe Labour seat, with Labour holding the seat for all but one term since. In the 2020 electoral boundary review, Otago Peninsula was added to the area to address a population quota shortfall; with this change the electorate will be succeeded by the electorate in the.
Population centres
Through the City Single Electorates Act, 1903, the three-member electorates of the four main centres were split again, and this became effective at the end of the 15th Parliament and was thus used for the. The electorate was split into the, Dunedin North, and electorates.Due to World War II, the 1941 census was postponed. The next census was brought forward to 1945 so that the significant changes in population since the 1936 census could be taken into consideration in a 1946 electoral redistribution prior to the scheduled 1946 general election. At the same time, the Labour government abolished the country quota. The electoral redistribution changed all 76 electorates. When the draft electoral redistribution was released for consultation in early April 1946, it was proposed for the Dunedin North electorate to be abolished and most of its area was supposed to go to a re-created electorate. Based on consultation feedback, the Port Chalmers Borough became part of the electorate. With such a geographic change, the proposed name of Chalmers electorate was no longer viable and the name changed to North Dunedin electorate instead. Apart from the Port Chalmers Borough going to Oamaru, there was little change in geographic area covered when Dunedin North became North Dunedin. In the 1952 electoral redistribution, the Oamaru electorate expanded further inland and its southern boundary moved north, resulting in the area north of Dunedin Harbour all going to North Dunedin. In the 1957 electoral redistribution, North Dunedin became more rural in nature by expanding towards the north.
The North Dunedin electorate was renamed Dunedin North in the 1962 electoral redistribution prior to the. The character of the electorate changed significantly and it became urban again. In the 1967 electoral redistribution, the North Dunedin electorate moved south, losing the Port Chalmers Borough once more to the re-established Oamaru electorate but gaining area from Dunedin Central. In the 1972 electoral redistribution, Port Chalmers came back to the Dunedin North electorate. There were only minor boundary changes in the 1977 electoral redistribution, but a significant urban shift to the south occurred through the 1983 electoral redistribution, when the Dunedin Central electorate was subsumed by Dunedin North and Dunedin West. There were further boundary changes through the 1987 electoral redistribution.
The 2013 redistribution saw the electorate expand to include Palmerston, Macraes Flat, Moeraki, Hampden and Herbert-Waianakarua. In its final shape from 2014 to 2020, the Dunedin North electorate covered the northern half of the city of Dunedin. It was bordered by Waitaki in the north, Dunedin South in west, south, and south-east, and the Pacific Ocean in the north-east.
The electorate covered what is the equivalent of the Waikouaiti Coast-Chalmers ward of the Dunedin City Council outside the actual urban area of Dunedin. This included the population centre of Waikouaiti, Karitane, Waitati, Seacliff, Warrington, Port Chalmers, Sawyers Bay, Roseneath, and Aramoana.
In urban Dunedin it covered most of northern, central and western Dunedin. This included the city centre and the suburbs of City Rise, Pine Hill, Dunedin North, North East Valley, Opoho, Ravensbourne, Mornington, Roslyn, Maori Hill, Leith Valley, Kaikorai Valley, Brockville, Halfway Bush, and Wakari.
Socio-economic make-up
A notable influence on voting patterns in the electorate is the location of the University of Otago and Otago Polytechnic in Dunedin North. The electorate has the highest proportion of persons aged 15 to 19 in the country, with 14.1%. It also has the highest proportion of people on a student allowance, employed in the education and training industry, and employed in the health care and social assistance industry.The Dunedin North electorate has a low rate of enrolment compared to New Zealand as a whole. As of 31 May 2012, 78.4% of the estimate eligible population is enrolled to vote, compared to 92.8% nationally. The figure is brought down by the low number of people aged 18 to 24 enrolled — less than half of the estimated eligible population is enrolled, compared to 75.2% nationally. Enrolments of those aged 25 and over are comparable to the national averages.
History
The first representative was Alfred Richard Barclay, who had previously represented the City of Dunedin electorate. In the, he was defeated by G. M. Thomson, who served for two parliamentary terms before being defeated.Barclay was succeeded by Andrew Walker representing the United Labour Party in the. The remnants of United Labour formed the New Zealand Labour Party in 1916 and Walker became the new party's first President. He served for one parliamentary term until the, when he was defeated by the Independent Edward Kellett. Kellett died during the parliamentary term on 15 May 1922, and this caused the, which was won by Jim Munro.
Munro was confirmed at the 1922 general election, but was defeated by Harold Livingstone Tapley in the. Munro in turn defeated Tapley at the and then served the electorate until his death on 27 May 1945.
Munro's death caused the, which was won by Robert Walls. Walls served the electorate until his death on 6 November 1953. This caused the, which was won by Ethel McMillan, who served the electorate until her retirement in 1975.
McMillan was succeeded by Richard Walls of the National Party in the, who held the electorate for one parliamentary term before being defeated by Labour's Stan Rodger in the. Rodger retired in 1990 and was succeeded by Pete Hodgson. Hodgson served the electorate until his retirement in 2011. Hodgson was succeeded by David Clark in the, when he beat Michael Woodhouse. In the, Clark was again successful against Woodhouse and managed to increase his majority.
In the 2019/2020 electoral boundary review, the Electoral Commission added the Otago Peninsula area to the Dunedin North electorate. The electorate's area had to grow as it 5.8% below its population quota, where the maximum allowable quota is capped to 5%. This change in area required the name of the electorate to be changed to.