2004 Te Tai Hauauru by-election
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Turnout | 7,861 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Te Tai Hauauru by-election was a by-election in the New Zealand electorate of Te Tai Hauāuru, 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 and the Labour Party in protest over the government's position in the foreshore and seabed controversy. 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), 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 law in force at the time.[1] Labour nominated Errol Mason to contest the seat at the subsequent 2005 general election, losing to Turia.
Results
The following table shows the final results of the by-election:[2]
2004 Te Tai Hauauru by-election | |||||
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Notes: Blue background denotes the winner of the by-election. | |||||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Māori Party | ![]() |
7,256 | 92.74 | ||
Legalise Cannabis | Dun Mihaka | 197 | 2.52 | ||
Independent | Tahu Nepia | 183 | 2.24 | ||
Independent | Peter Wakeman | 80 | 1.02 | ||
Independent | David Bolton | 70 | 0.89 | ||
Independent | Rusty Kane | 38 | 0.49 | ||
Majority | 7,059 | 24.9 | |||
Turnout | 7,861a | 27.85 | |||
Māori Party gain from Labour | Swing |
a Includes 37 informal votes but does not include any disallowed special votes.
References
- ^ Professor Andrew Geddis. "Who controls the past now, controls the future". Retrieved 11 January 2017.
- ^ "By-Election Results -- Te Tai Hauauru". Chief Electoral Office. Retrieved 19 September 2014.