Awarua was a New Zealand parliamentary

electorate Electorate may refer to: * The people who are eligible to vote in an election, especially their number e.g. the term ''size of (the) electorate'' * The dominion of a Prince-elector in the Holy Roman Empire until 1806 * An electoral district An ...

from 1881 to 1996.

Population centres

The previous electoral redistribution was undertaken in 1875 for the 1875–1876 election. In the six years since, New Zealand's European population had increased by 65%. In the 1881 electoral redistribution, the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

increased the number of European representatives to 91 (up from 84 since the 1875–76 election). The number of Māori electorates was held at four. The House further decided that electorates should not have more than one representative, which led to 22 new electorates being formed, including Awarua, and two electorates that had previously been abolished to be recreated. This necessitated a major disruption to existing boundaries. This electorate was in the rural part of

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 ...

. In its original form, it covered the area around the town of

Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...

, which had its own electorate.

Bluff Bluff or The Bluff may refer to: Places Australia * Bluff, Queensland, Australia, a town * The Bluff, Queensland (Ipswich), a rural locality in the city of Ipswich * The Bluff, Queensland (Toowoomba Region), a rural locality * Bluff River (New ...

fell into Awarua, and all of

Stewart Island / Rakiura Stewart Island ( mi, Rakiura, ' glowing skies', officially Stewart Island / Rakiura) is New Zealand's third-largest island, located south of the South Island, across the Foveaux Strait. It is a roughly triangular island with a total land ar ...

. On the mainland, Awarua had taken area from (which was abolished) and from (which moved to the east and north). Stewart Island had previously belonged to .

History

The electorate was established in 1881. It was represented by the Prime Minister, Sir

Joseph Ward Sir Joseph George Ward, 1st Baronet, (26 April 1856 – 8 July 1930) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 17th prime minister of New Zealand from 1906 to 1912 and from 1928 to 1930. He was a dominant figure in the Liberal and Unit ...

from 1887 to 1919.

Philip De La Perrelle Philip Aldborough de la Perrelle (1872 – 7 December 1935) was a New Zealand politician of the Liberal Party and the United Party. Biography Early life De la Perrelle was born at Arrowtown in 1872. He was a newspaper proprietor and owned the ...

announced his retirement due to ill health in August 1935. He died within days of the and was succeeded by

James Hargest Brigadier James Hargest, (4 September 1891 – 12 August 1944) was an officer of the New Zealand Military Forces, serving in both the First and Second World Wars. He was a Member of New Zealand's Parliament from 1931 to 1944, representin ...

. In the 1996 election, the first MMP election, the electorate was absorbed into the adjacent Invercargill electorate.

Members of Parliament

Key ¹

was originally an Independent supporter of the Reform Party. He joined the National Party in 1936.

Election results

1963 election

1944 by-election

1935 election

Table footnotes:

1931 election

1928 election

1925 election

1922 election

1919 election

1914 election

1911 election

1908 election

1905 election

1902 election

1899 election

1897 by-election

1896 election

1893 election

1890 election

1887 election

1884 election

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Awarua (New Zealand Electorate) Historical electorates of New Zealand 1881 establishments in New Zealand 1996 disestablishments in New Zealand Politics of Southland, New Zealand