South Auckland is an imprecisely defined urban area of

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, with a young population, a relatively large Polynesian and Māori demographic, and lower incomes than other parts of Auckland. The name ''South Auckland'', though not an official place name, has come into common use For example: among New Zealanders. It also appears in the names of some organisations and

companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...

. Since the 1970s the term "South Auckland" has developed negative connotations with outsiders, being associated with deprivation, crime and violence. When

street crime Street crime is a loose term for any criminal offense in a public place. The difference between street crime and white-collar crime is that street crime is often violence that occurs in a public area whereas white-collar crime is non-violent crim ...

occurs in the area, the mass media tend to use the generic "South Auckland" phrase, with its vague and unfortunate stereotypes, rather than a more precise name of a suburb or territorial authority. Barry Curtis, mayor of Manukau City from 1983 to 2007, tried to discourage use of the name "South Auckland" because of its negative connotations.

History

The area between

Manurewa Manurewa is a major suburb in South Auckland, New Zealand. It was part of Manukau City before the creation of the Auckland super city in 2010. It is located south of the Manukau City Centre, and southeast of Auckland CBD. The suburb is b ...

and

Clevedon Clevedon (, ) is an English seaside town and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset, part of the ceremonial county of Somerset. It recorded a parish population of 21,281 in the United Kingdom Census 2011, estimated at 21,442 ...

was historically a large swampland. By the 1890s, this swampland was a major location for

kauri gum Kauri gum is resin from kauri trees (''Agathis australis''), which historically had several important industrial uses. It can also be used to make crafts such as jewellery. Kauri forests once covered much of the North Island of New Zealand, bef ...

digging, and became known variously as the Ardmore Gumfield or the Papakura Gumfield. By the 1900s, Auckland gumfields and swamps began being converted into farmland and orchards.

Geography

The heart of South Auckland is the low socio-economic suburbs of the former Manukau City, typified by Ōtara but including Papatoetoe, Māngere and

. Broadly speaking, South Auckland is the urban area stretching from at the very least the narrowing of the

Auckland isthmus The Auckland isthmus, also known as the Tāmaki isthmus, is a narrow stretch of land on the North Island of New Zealand in the Auckland Region, and the location of the central suburbs of the city of Auckland, including the CBD. The isthmus i ...

at Ōtāhuhu, southwards through the Manukau City suburbs lying to the west and near east of Auckland's Southern Motorway (State Highway 1). The area does not include the more affluent eastern and northern Manukau City suburbs such as Howick, Dannemora, Botany Downs, Flat Bush and Pakuranga or the large rural area of Manukau City. The name does not include

Franklin District Franklin District was a New Zealand territorial authority that lay between the Auckland metropolitan area and the Waikato Plains. As a formal territory it was abolished on 31 October 2010 and divided between Auckland Council in the Auckland Re ...

, which lies south of Papakura. Prior to the 1970s, South Auckland encompassed the region from Ōtāhuhu south to Mercer, and from the west coast to the

Firth of Thames The Firth of Thames ( mi, Tikapa Moana-o-Hauraki) is a large bay located in the north of the North Island of New Zealand. It is the firth of the rivers Waihou and Piako, the former of which was formerly named the Thames River, and the town of ...

, including the southern towns of

Pukekohe Pukekohe is a town in the Auckland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located at the southern edge of the Auckland Region, it is in South Auckland, between the southern shore of the Manukau Harbour and the mouth of the Waikato River. ...

Tuakau Tuakau ( mi, Tūākau) is a town in the Waikato region at the foot of Bombay hills, formerly part of the Franklin district until 2010, when it became part of Waikato District in the North Island of New Zealand. The town serves to support local ...

and

Waiuku Waiuku is a rural town in the Auckland Region in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located at the southern end of the Waiuku River, which is an estuarial arm of the Manukau Harbour, and lies on the isthmus of the Āwhitu Peninsula, wh ...

Auckland Airport Auckland Airport is the largest and busiest airport in New Zealand, with over 21 million passengers in the year ended March 2019. The airport is located near Māngere, a residential suburb, and Airport Oaks, a service hub suburb south of th ...

is located in South Auckland, as well as several other places of interest, including the amusement park Rainbow's End, the Auckland Botanic Gardens and one of the oldest shopping malls in the country, now called Westfield Manukau City. Some of the suburbs in South Auckland contain predominantly

state housing State housing is a system of public housing in New Zealand, offering low-cost rental housing to residents on low to moderate incomes. Some 69,000 state houses are managed by Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities, most of which are owned by the ...

and are the poorest suburbs of Auckland. The area also contains the industrial heartland of Auckland (Māngere, Ōtāhuhu, Manukau CBD, and the Port of Onehunga), with workshops, factories and warehouses providing work for many Aucklanders.

Politics and governance

Local government

South Auckland was formerly a part of Manukau City, which was amalgamated into the new Auckland Council in 2010, being roughly covered by the extreme southernmost portion of the Maungakiekie-Tamaki Local Board, as well as the entirety of the Māngere-Ōtāhuhu, Ōtara-Papatoetoe and Manurewa Local Boards. On the Auckland Council Governing Body, South Auckland is represented by Alf Filipaina and Lotu Fuli (Manukau Ward); and Daniel Newman and Angela Dalton (Manurewa-Papakura Ward)

National government

South Auckland has traditionally strongly supported the Labour Party in national elections. The general electorates of Māngere, Panmure-Ōtāhuhu,

, and

Takanini Takanini is a southern suburb of Auckland, in northern New Zealand. It is located on the shores of the Pahurehure Inlet, 28 kilometres southeast of the Auckland CBD. The suburb is home to a Fonterra Brands milk plant (part of the dairy compan ...

and the Māori electorate of

Tāmaki Makaurau Tāmaki Makaurau is a New Zealand parliamentary Māori electorate returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. It was first formed for the . The electorate covers the Auckland area and was first held by Labour ...

cover the area commonly referred to as South Auckland. All are currently represented by a Labour MP in the

New Zealand Parliament The New Zealand Parliament ( mi, Pāremata Aotearoa) is the unicameral legislature of New Zealand, consisting of the King of New Zealand (King-in-Parliament) and the New Zealand House of Representatives. The King is usually represented by hi ...

, and the strong support for this party was underlined by these electorates recording strong party vote majorities for Labour in the 2014 election, despite Labour's support falling to a record low nationally. Candidates from the National, Green, New Zealand First and a range of minor parties also stand in the general electorates of South Auckland, though none has been won by a party other than Labour since 1975. The Māori electorate of Tāmaki Makaurau was held by the

Māori Party Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

co-leader

Pita Sharples Sir Pita Russell Sharples (born Peter Russell Sharples, 20 July 1941) is a New Zealand Māori academic and politician, who was a co-leader of the Māori Party from 2004 to 2013, and a minister outside Cabinet in the National Party-led governme ...

from 2005 until 2014.

Demographics and culture

The area has a multiracial population including Pākehā (European New Zealanders) and Asians as well as a high proportion of Polynesians and Māori. This gives it a very cosmopolitan feel and a thriving culture, especially at street level, most often seen by visitors at the Saturday markets at Ōtara, Manurewa and Māngere. Manukau City, before its amalgamation, used the slogan "Face of the Future" to reflect its youthful demographic, having one of the highest proportion of people under 18. South Auckland is also a major centre of hip hop culture and music in New Zealand.

Notable people

People who hail from South Auckland include Olympic champion John Walker, mountaineer

Edmund Hillary Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the first climbers confirmed to have reache ...

, and former Prime Minister David Lange. Many successful sportspeople are South Aucklanders; including rugby players

Jonah Lomu Jonah Tali Lomu (12 May 1975 – 18 November 2015) was a New Zealand professional rugby union player. Lomu is considered to have been the first true global superstar of rugby, and consequently had a huge impact on the game. He is widely regarde ...

and

Eric Rush Eric James Rush (born 11 February 1965 in Kaeo) is a New Zealand former rugby union footballer and rugby sevens legend, and now a supermarket owner. His New Zealand Sevens career began in 1988 and ran until past his 39th birthday in 2004. Ru ...

, rugby league player

Ruben Wiki Ruben James Wiki (born 21 January 1973) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. A New Zealand international representative centre-turned-prop forward, he retired with the record for most ...

, heavyweight boxers

David Tua Faumuina To'aletai Mafaufau David Tua (born 21 November 1972), best known as David Tua, is a Samoan-New Zealand former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2013. A highly ranked heavyweight contender for most of his career, Tua was kno ...

and Joseph Parker, cricketer Daryl Tuffey, kickboxer Mark Hunt, IndyCar racer Scott Dixon, Shot-putter Valerie Adams and hip hop music artists Young Sid, Savage, and

P-Money Peter Wadams, better known by his stage name P-Money, is a New Zealand hip-hop DJ and producer. One of his best-known works is "Everything", featuring New Zealand R&B singer Vince Harder, which reached number one on the New Zealand Singles ...

References

{{Auckland Auckland Māori culture in Auckland Polynesian-New Zealand culture in Auckland Geography of Auckland