Southland is an electorate to the
New Zealand House of Representatives. It was first created for the
2020 New Zealand general election
The 2020 New Zealand general election was held on Saturday 17 October 2020 to determine the composition of the 53rd parliament. Voters elected 120 members to the House of Representatives, 72 from single-member electorates and 48 from closed ...
and has since then been held by
Joseph Mooney of the
National Party.
Population centres
Despite its name, the electorate straddles the border between the
Southland Southland may refer to:
Places Canada
* Dunbar–Southlands, Vancouver, British Columbia
New Zealand
* Southland Region, a region of New Zealand
* Southland County, a former New Zealand county
* Southland District, part of the wider Southland Re ...
and
Otago regions. It is one of New Zealand's largest electorates and is predominantly rural in nature. The electorate includes
Gore,
Winton,
Mataura
Mataura is a town in the Southland region of the South Island of New Zealand. Mataura has a meat processing plant, and until 2000 it was the site of a large pulp and paper mill.
Geography
Mataura is situated on and the Main South Line rail ...
,
Alexandra,
Arrowtown
Arrowtown (Māori: ''Haehaenui'') is a historic gold mining town in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. Arrowtown is located on the banks of the Arrow River approximately 7.5 km from State Highway 6. Arrowtown is located ...
,
Queenstown and
Te Anau
Te Anau is a town in the Southland region of the South Island of New Zealand. In Maori, Te-Anau means the Place of the Swirling Waters. It is on the eastern shore of Lake Te Anau in Fiordland. Te Anau is 155 kilometres north of Invercargill ...
(among others), and much of
Fiordland National Park.
History
The Southland electorate emerged at the 2020 redistribution after the
Clutha region moved out of the former electorate of
Clutha-Southland
Clutha-Southland was a parliamentary constituency returning one member to the New Zealand House of Representatives. The last MP for Clutha Southland was Hamish Walker of the National Party. He held the seat for one term, being elected at the 2 ...
. It comprised the bulk of Clutha-Southland, plus another area around Alexandra that had been moved in from . The
Representation Commission initially proposed to move Winton and
The Catlins
The Catlins (sometimes referred to as The Catlins Coast) comprises an area in the southeastern corner of the South Island of New Zealand. The area lies between Balclutha and Invercargill, straddling the boundary between the Otago and Southla ...
into , but after a public consultation process these areas remained in Southland, which instead shed a large area in West Southland around
Tuatapere
Tuatapere is a small rural town in Southland, New Zealand. It is the self declared "Sausage Capital of New Zealand". Tuatapere is located eight kilometres from the southern coast. The Waiau River flows through the town before reaching Te Waew ...
.
The incumbent from the Clutha-Southland electorate,
Hamish Walker, announced in July 2020 that he would not contest the Southland electorate. Later that month, the National Party selected
Joseph Mooney as their candidate for this safe National seat.
Mooney was elected by a margin of 5,645 votes over Labour Party candidate Jon Mitchell.
Members of Parliament
Key
Election results
2020 election
References
{{Electorates of New Zealand
2020 establishments in New Zealand
New Zealand electorates