1.
New Zealand electorates
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An electorate is a geographical constituency used for electing members to the New Zealand Parliament. In informal discussion, electorates are often called seats, the most formal description, electoral district, is used in legislation. The size of electorates is determined on a basis such that all electorates have approximately the same population. Before 1996, all members of Parliament were directly chosen for office by the voters of an electorate, the 71 electorates are made up from 64 general and seven Māori electorates. Originally, electorates were drawn up based on political and social links, each electorate was allocated a different number of MPs in order to balance population differences. All electorates used a plurality voting system, from 1881, a special country quota meant that rural seats were allowed to contain fewer people than urban seats, preserving the inequality and over-representing farmers. For the 1905 election the multi-member electorates were abolished, the quota system persisted until 1945. Today, electorate boundaries are determined by the Representation Commission, the Commission consists of, Four government officials—the Government Statistician, the Surveyor-General, the Chief Electoral Officer, and the Chairperson of the Local Government Commission. A representative of the party or coalition, and a representative of the opposition block. A chairperson nominated by the members, with the exception of Chairperson of the Local Government Commission. Boundaries are reviewed after each New Zealand Census, which occurs every five years. The number of māori electorates are determined by the Māori Electoral Option where Māori voters can opt to be in either a māori electorate or a general electorate, South Island Māori opting for the general roll are included in the population on which the South Island Quota is established. The North Island population being divided into electorates of approximately the same population as the South Island ones, electorates may vary by no more than 5% of the average population size. This has caused the number of list seats in Parliament to decline as the population is experiencing northern drift due to internal migration and immigration. Because of the increasing North Island population, the North Island was awarded an additional electoral seat beginning in the 2008 general election, another North Island seat was created for the 2014 general election. Each time, the need for a seat was determined from the results of the most recent census. The total number of list seats has thus declined from 51 to 49 since 2007, although the New Zealand Parliament is intended to have 120 members, recent iterations have exceeded this quantity. Due to some parties winning more seats than their proportion of the party vote suggests
2.
Tasman District
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Tasman District is a local government district in the north of the South Island of New Zealand. It borders the West Coast Region, Marlborough Region and Nelson City and it is administered by the Tasman District Council, a unitary authority, which sits at Richmond, with community boards serving outlying communities in Motueka and Golden Bay. The city of Nelson has its own unitary authority separate from Tasman District, Tasman District is a large area at the western corner of the north end of the South Island of New Zealand. It covers 9,786 square kilometres and is bounded on the west by the Matiri Ranges, Tasman Mountains, the Victoria Ranges form Tasmans southern boundary and the districts highest point is Mount Franklin, at 2,340 metres. The landscape is diverse, from mountainous areas to valleys and plains. The limestone-rich area around Mount Owen and Mount Arthur is notable for its extensive networks, among them New Zealands deepest caves at Ellis Basin. There is abundant bush and bird life, golden beaches, the unique 40-kilometre sands of Farewell Spit. These assets make the district a popular destination for tourists, Tasman is home to three national parks, Abel Tasman National Park, Nelson Lakes National Park and Kahurangi National Park. The Maruia Falls,8 kilometres southwest of Murchison were created by the 1929 Murchison earthquake when a slip blocked the original channel, the sub-national GDP of the Nelson region was estimated at US$2.343 billion in 2003, 2% of New Zealands national GDP. Tasman Bay, the largest indentation in the north coast of the South Island, was named after Dutch seafarer, explorer and he was the first European to discover New Zealand on 13 December 1642 while on an expedition for the Dutch East India Company. Tasman Bay passed the name on to the district, which was formed in 1989 largely from the merger of Waimea. Tasman District Council headquarters are at Richmond, close to the adjoining Nelson City, the head of local government is the mayor. Community Boards exist to outlying areas in Motueka and Golden Bay. Other towns are Motueka, Brightwater, Collingwood, Murchison, Riwaka, Saint Arnaud, Takaka, Tapawera, Wakefield, Mapua, according to tradition, the Māori waka Uruao, brought ancestors of the Waitaha people to Tasman in the 12th Century. Archaeological evidence suggests the first Māori settlers explored the region thoroughly, the succession of tribes into the area suggests considerable warfare interrupted their lives. Around 1828, Ngati Toa under Te Rauparaha and the northern tribes of Ngati Rarua and Ngati Tama. They took over much of the area from Farewell Spit to the Wairau River, the first immigrant ships from England arrived in Nelson in 1842 and the European settlement of the region began under the leadership of Captain Arthur Wakefield. In the 1850s, agriculture and pastoral farming started and villages were established on the Waimea Plains, in 1856, the discovery of gold near Collingwood sparked New Zealands first gold rush
3.
Collingwood, New Zealand
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Collingwood is a town in the north-west corner of the South Island of New Zealand along Golden Bay. The town is a destination due to its proximity to Kahurangi National Park. The town was originally named Gibbstown after the settler and politician William Gibbs. The settlement was later renamed Collingwood for Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, Lord Nelsons second-in-command at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, following the discovery of payable gold-deposits in the Aorere Valley in 1856 the towns population surged and the suggestion was made that Collingwood should become New Zealands capital. The town has been damaged by several times, being almost destroyed in 1904. Collingwood is located along the shore of Golden Bay at the mouth of the Aorere River. The town is the endpoint for State Highway 60, Collingwood Area School is a composite school catering for primary, secondary, and adult education in the greater Collingwood area, and has around 130 students on roll. The school celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2009, the Reed Dictionary of New Zealand Place Names
4.
Takaka, New Zealand
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Takaka is a small town situated at the southeastern end of Golden Bay, at the northern end of New Zealands South Island, located on the lower reaches of the Takaka River. It lies at the start of the road which follows the river valley before climbing over Takaka Hill. During the period,1853 to 1876, Takaka was administrated as part of the Nelson Province, farming, sawmilling, limestone quarrying and tourism are major local industries. The area around Takaka is mineral-rich, with gold, iron ore, copper, silver and asbestos all found locally, Takaka and Golden Bay are also known for rock climbing, the most area being Paynes Ford. This area is situated about 20 minutes walk from Takaka and has over 200 bolted climbs, the most famous climb is 1080 and the letter G because of its unique no-hands-rest at the top and its views of Golden Bay. The town is known for Te Waikoropupu Springs, which holds the world record for fresh water clarity. In June 2005, much of the town was evacuated after fire swept through Takakas biggest industrial complex. There were fears that volatile chemicals stored at the plant might explode, leading to the release of poisonous gases, the antipode of Takaka is exactly in the town of Coriscada, Portugal
5.
South Island
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The South Island or Te Waipounamu is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, the South Island covers 150,437 square kilometres and has a temperate climate. In the early stages of European settlement of the country, the South Island had the majority of the European population, in prose, the two main islands of New Zealand are called the North Island and the South Island, with the definite article. Charcoal drawings can be found on rock shelters in the centre of the South Island. The drawings are estimated to be between 500 and 800 years old, and portray animals, people and fantastic creatures, possibly stylised reptiles, some of the birds pictured are long extinct, including moa and Haasts eagles. They were drawn by early Māori, but by the time Europeans arrived, early inhabitants of the South Island were the Waitaha. They were largely absorbed via marriage and conquest by the Kāti Mamoe in the 16th century, Kāti Mamoe were in turn largely absorbed via marriage and conquest by the Kāi Tahu who migrated south in the 17th century. While today there is no distinct Kāti Mamoe organisation, many Kāi Tahu have Kāti Mamoe links in their whakapapa and, a notable feature of the Moriori culture, an emphasis on pacifism, proved disadvantageous when Māori warriors arrived in the 1830s aboard a chartered European ship. In the early 18th century, Kāi Tahu, a Māori tribe who originated on the east coast of the North Island, There they and Kāti Mamoe fought Ngāi Tara and Rangitāne in the Wairau Valley. Ngāti Māmoe then ceded the east coast regions north of the Clarence River to Kāi Tahu, Kāi Tahu continued to push south, conquering Kaikoura. By the 1730s, Kāi Tahu had settled in Canterbury, including Banks Peninsula, from there they spread further south and into the West Coast. In 1827-1828 Ngāti Toa under the leadership of Te Rauparaha successfully attacked Kāi Tahu at Kaikoura, Ngāti Toa then visited Kaiapoi, ostensibly to trade. When they attacked their hosts, the well-prepared Kāi Tahu killed all the leading Ngāti Toa chiefs except Te Rauparaha, Te Rauparaha returned to his Kapiti Island stronghold. After destroying Te Maiharanuis village they took their captives to Kapiti, John Stewart, though arrested and sent to trial in Sydney as an accomplice to murder, nevertheless escaped conviction. In the summer of 1831–32 Te Rauparaha attacked the Kaiapoi pā, Kaiapoi was engaged in a three-month siege by Te Rauparaha, during which his men successfully sapped the pā. They then attacked Kāi Tahu on Banks Peninsula and took the pā at Onawe, in 1832-33 Kāi Tahu retaliated under the leadership of Tūhawaiki and others, attacking Ngāti Toa at Lake Grassmere. Kāi Tahu prevailed, and killed many Ngāti Toa, although Te Rauparaha again escaped, fighting continued for a year or so, with Kāi Tahu maintaining the upper hand. Ngāti Toa never again made an incursion into Kāi Tahu territory
6.
Arthur Collins (politician)
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Arthur Shuckburgh Collins, known as Arthur Collins and later as Arthur Collyns, was a 19th-century Member of Parliament from Nelson, New Zealand. Collins was born on 31 December 1832 in Devon, England and his parents were William Wrangham Collins and Henrietta Shuckburgh. The family emigrated to Nelson on the Pekin from London, arriving on 15 January 1850, in his younger years, he excelled in sports. Collins married Catherine Anne Collins on 25 September 1855 in Nelson and they had three girls before his wife died on 8 February 1864. On 25 January 1866, he married again—Erica Elspeth Collins, ten children resulted from this marriage. Sometime in the 1870s, he changed the spelling of his surname to Collyns and his daughter Hilda Reay was registered as Collins, whilst his son Arthur Wrangham was registered as Collyns. He represented the Collingwood electorate from 1868 to 1873, when he resigned and he was a Provincialist, but once elected, he changed his mind and became an ardent supporter of the abolition of the provinces. He then represented the Suburbs of Nelson electorate in 1881 from 11 January to 8 November, Collyns died on 26 September 1911. He is buried, as are his wives, at Wakapuaka Cemetery and his second wife had died before him, on 27 June 1897
7.
New Zealand general election, 1871
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The New Zealand general election of 1871 was held between 14 January and 23 February to elect 78 MPs across 72 electorates to the fifth session of the New Zealand Parliament. 1871 was the first general election to include the four Māori electorates, the first Māori Members of Parliament had been elected in 1868, but in 1871 three retired and one was defeated. So in 1871 four new Māori MPs were elected, in 1866 the secret ballot was introduced for general elections. The 1871 general election was the first one at which it was used, the secret ballot not used in Māori electorates until 1938, thus Māori voters continued to inform a polling officer orally of their chosen candidate. The date of election is defined here as the day on which the poll took place, or if there was no contest, the earliest election day was 14 January 1871. The earliest date in the general electorate results table,13 January 1871, the last election was held on 23 February 1871 in the Franklin electorate. 68 European electorates and 4 Māori electorates were defined by the Representation Act 1870, six of the general electorates had two representatives, the rest were single member electorates
