Eastern Maori
Eastern Maori was one of the four original New Zealand parliamentary Māori electorates founded in 1867. It was replaced by the Te Tai Rawhiti electorate in 1996.Population centres
The electorate included the population centres of Kawerau, Opotiki, Rotorua and Whakatane.Tribal areas
The electorate included the tribal areas of Ngāti Awa, Te Arawa, Ngāi Tai, Te Whakatōhea and Ngāti Porou.History
Eastern Maori included Rotorua and the Bay of Plenty, and the Poverty Bay area down to Gisborne. Originally the electorate extended down the East Coast and included the Wairarapa, but in 1954 the boundaries of the Southern Maori electorate were extended to include much of the East Coast of the North Island up to Napier and Wairoa in Hawke's Bay.
The first Member of Parliament for Eastern Maori was Tareha Te Moananui, elected in 1868; he was the first Māori MP to speak in Parliament, and he retired in 1870.
James Carroll represented the electorate from 1887 to 1893, but in 1893 he changed to the Waiapu electorate and was replaced by Wi Pere who Carroll had defeated in 1887.
In the, the incumbent, Tiaki Omana of the Labour Party, was unsuccessfully challenged by National's Turi Carroll.
In the, Puti Tipene Watene was elected. He was a Mormon and was the first non-Ratana to win a Maori seat since 1938.
With MMP Eastern Maori was replaced by the Te Tai Rawhiti electorate in 1996. Peter Tapsell, who had represented Eastern Maori since 1981 was defeated when he stood in the new electorate.Members of Parliament
The Eastern Maori electorate was represented by ten Members of Parliament:
KeyNote that the affiliation of many early candidates is not known.1931 election
1928 election
1899 election
1896 election
1879 by-election
