Aokautere

Aokautere is a suburb of the New Zealand city of Palmerston North. It is situated in the cliffs on the south banks of the Manawatu River.

Aokautere is named after Te Aokautere, a great Rangitāne chief during the late 18th century. In the 19th century, it was known as Fitzherbert, after the politician William Fitzherbert who promoted settlement of the Manawatu. The Fitzherbert East Dairy Factory building still carries the name these days.

Aokautere has views of the Ruahine and Tararua Ranges (with the Wind Turbine Farms) an on a clear day t is possible to see Ruapehu.

Anzac Park (Te Motu-o-Poutoa), a clifftop reserve colloquially known as Pork Chop Hill, has views across the city, through to the southern Ruahine and northern Tararua ranges. It is also possible to see distant Taranaki and Ruapehu. There is also access to the Stairway of Tāne (Te Arapiki-a-Tāne), steps cut into the former Anzac Cliffs, now collapsed into a slope.

Aokautere is a part of the Ashhurst-Fitzherbert Ward in the Palmerston North City Council, alongside Linton and Turitea.

Prior to 1996, Aokautere was part of the Manawatu electorate. However, due to the reformation of the electoral system from FPP to MMP, the electorate of Palmerston North's boundaries were redrawn to include Aokautere. Palmerston North's electorate boundaries were redrawn in 2007 and Aokautere was shifted to the Rangitikei electorate. Rangitikei as of 2012 is represented by National MP Ian McKelvie, nominated to replace Simon Power who retired from politics. McKelvie was elected in 2011.

Education

Aokautere School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 6 students, with a roll of 140 as of February 2024.

The Institute of the Pacific United (IPU, formerly International Pacific College) is located in Aokautere.