The Te Tai Hauauru by-election was a
by-election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...
in the
New Zealand electorate
An electorate or electoral district ( mi, rohe pōti) is a geographical constituency used for electing a member () to the New Zealand Parliament. The size of electorates is determined such that all electorates have approximately the same populati ...
of
Te Tai Hauāuru
Te Tai Hauāuru electorate boundaries used since the
Te Tai Hauāuru is a New Zealand parliamentary Māori electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives, that was first formed for the . The electorat ...
, one of the
Māori electorates. The date set for the by-election was 10 July 2004. It saw the re-election of Tariana Turia, a former MP for the
Labour Party and now co-leader of the
Māori Party.
Turia had quit both
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
and the
Labour Party in protest over the government's position in the
foreshore and seabed controversy
The New Zealand foreshore and seabed controversy is a debate in the politics of New Zealand. It concerns the ownership of the country's foreshore and seabed, with many Māori groups claiming that Māori have a rightful claim to title. These c ...
. She contested the by-election as a member of the new Māori Party, which she played a leading role in establishing. None of the major parties contested the by-election, and Turia was always the overwhelming favourite to win. Perhaps due to the apparent inevitability of a win for Turia, only around 32% of Te Tai Hauauru voters cast ballots.
Nominations for the by-election closed on 15 June 2004. Candidates were:
* Tariana Turia (
Māori Party)
* Peter Wakeman, a Labour Party member who stood as an independent.
* Dun Mihaka (
Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party
Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party (ALCP), also known as the Cannabis Party, is a political party in New Zealand. It is dedicated to removing or reducing restrictions on the use of cannabis and similar substances.
Party history
Cannabis in New ...
), a veteran Māori activist best known for baring his buttocks to
the Queen on her 1983 Royal Tour of New Zealand.
* Tahu Nepia, who stood as an independent, but represented the
Ratana movement, with the intent of establishing an Independent Ratana Party to contest the next general election.
* Rusty Kane, an independent who campaigned on the platform that
Māori electorates should be abolished.
* David Bolton, independent.
If no candidates had been put forward to oppose Turia, she would have been declared the winner without a vote – this initially appeared possible, and given the cost of a by-election (estimated at almost NZ$500,000), many hoped that a vote could be avoided.
The holding of a by-election was criticised by a number other parties. The Labour Party, of which Turia was originally a member (and which has traditionally dominated the Māori electorates) has called the by-election "a waste of time and money", and a "sideshow" although the by-election was required by Labour-supported
waka-jumping
In New Zealand, waka-jumping is a colloquial term for when a member of Parliament (MP) switches political party between elections, taking their parliamentary seat with them and potentially upsetting electoral proportionality in the New Zealand ...
law in force at the time.
Labour nominated Errol Mason to contest the seat at the subsequent
2005 general election, losing to Turia.
Results
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Te Tai Hauauru By-Election, 2004
2004 elections in New Zealand
Te Tai Hauauru 2004
Māori politics
June 2004 events in New Zealand
July 2004 events in New Zealand