Petone (New Zealand electorate)

Petone is a former parliamentary electorate in the lower Hutt Valley of New Zealand, from 1946 to 1978. The electorate was represented by two Members of Parliament from the Labour Party.

Population centres

The 1941 New Zealand census had been postponed due to World War II, so the 1946 electoral redistribution had to take ten years of population growth and movements into account. The North Island gained a further two electorates from the South Island due to faster population growth. The abolition of the country quota through the Electoral Amendment Act, 1945 reduced the number and increased the size of rural electorates. None of the existing electorates remained unchanged, 27 electorates were abolished, eight former electorates were re-established, and 19 electorates were created for the first time, including Petone.^[1] The electorate was based on the southern part of the city of Lower Hutt. Settlements within the electorate included the suburb of Petone, Wainuiomata, and Eastbourne.^[2]

The Petone electorate was abolished through the 1977 electoral redistribution.^[3] Most of its area went to the Pencarrow electorate, while some area, including the suburb of Petone, transferred to the Western Hutt electorate.

History

The Petone electorate was first used for the 1946 election. Its first representative was Mick Moohan of the Labour Party, who was Minister of Railways from 1957 to 1960 while serving the electorate. Moohan died in office on 7 February 1967.^[4]

This caused the 1967 by-election, which was won by Fraser Colman. He served until the electorate was abolished in 1978, and moved to the Pencarrow electorate.^[5]

Members of Parliament

The Petone electorate was represented by two Members of Parliament.^[6]

Key

Labour

Election	Winner
1946 election		Mick Moohan
1949 election
1951 election
1954 election
1957 election
1960 election
1963 election
1966 election
1967 by-election		Fraser Colman
1969 election
1972 election
1975 election
(Electorate abolished in 1978; see Pencarrow and Western Hutt)

Election results

1975 election

1975 general election: Petone^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Fraser Colman	8,333	51.28	−11.83
	National	Brel Gluyas	5,499	33.84
	Values	Ian Donaldson	1,168	7.18
	Social Credit	Reg Moore	1,155	7.10	+2.39
	Liberal	John Anthony Patrick Broderick	62	0.38
	Socialist Action	Russell Johnson	31	0.19
Majority			2,834	17.44	−18.86
Turnout			16,248	80.96	−7.30
Registered electors			20,069

1972 election

1972 general election: Petone^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Fraser Colman	9,334	63.11	+4.23
	National	Nick Ursin	3,994	27.00
	Social Credit	Reg Moore	698	4.71
	Values	L B Frost	674	4.55
	New Democratic	E G M Tyley	90	0.60
Majority			5,340	36.10	−12.24
Turnout			14,790	88.26	−0.36
Registered electors			16,756

1969 election

1969 general election: Petone^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Fraser Colman	8,512	58.88	+4.28
	National	Francis Joshua Handy	5,064	35.03
	Social Credit	K H Walker	880	6.08
Majority			3,450	23.86	+0.11
Turnout			14,456	88.62	+21.05
Registered electors			16,312

1967 by-election

1967 Petone by-election^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Fraser Colman	7,086	54.60
	National	Dick Martin	4,003	30.84
	Social Credit	Colin Whitmill	1,888	14.54	+2.43
Majority			3,083	23.75
Turnout			12,977	67.57	−20.17
Registered electors			19,203
	Labour hold		Swing

1966 election

1966 general election: Petone^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mick Moohan	8,301	52.12	−2.78
	National	Joe Miller	5,694	35.75
	Social Credit	Colin Whitmill	1,929	12.11
Majority			2,607	16.37	+1.23
Turnout			15,924	84.74	−3.42
Registered electors			18,791

1963 election

1963 general election: Petone^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mick Moohan	8,875	54.90	−1.07
	National	Peter Love	6,427	39.75
	Social Credit	Thomas Frank Foulger	688	4.25
	Independent	C G Stancliff	175	1.08
Majority			2,448	15.14	−3.55
Turnout			16,165	88.16	−1.60
Registered electors			18,335

1960 election

1960 general election: Petone^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mick Moohan	8,738	55.97	−5.15
	National	Dick Martin	5,820	37.28
	Social Credit	Desmond George Long	1,052	6.73	−1.94
Majority			2,918	18.69	−8.35
Turnout			15,610	89.76	−3.05
Registered electors			17,389

1957 election

1957 general election: Petone^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mick Moohan	9,401	61.12	−0.07
	National	Dan Riddiford	5,242	34.08
	Social Credit	Desmond George Long	737	4.79
Majority			4,159	27.04	−2.14
Turnout			15,380	92.81	+6.42
Registered electors			16,571

1954 election

1954 general election: Petone^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mick Moohan	8,831	61.19	+2.90
	National	Fanny Elizabeth Soward	4,620	32.01
	Social Credit	Robert Leslie Allan	859	5.95
	Communist	Connie Birchfield	120	0.83
Majority			4,211	29.18	+12.59
Turnout			14,430	86.39	−1.81
Registered electors			16,702

1951 election

1951 general election: Petone^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mick Moohan	7,502	58.29	−0.55
	National	Norm Croft	5,367	41.70	+2.12
Majority			2,135	16.59	−2.66
Turnout			12,869	88.20	−4.23
Registered electors			14,590

1949 election

1949 general election: Petone^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mick Moohan	7,721	58.84	−6.53
	National	Norm Croft	5,194	39.58
	Communist	Arthur Philip Quinn	207	1.57
Majority			2,527	19.25	−11.49
Turnout			13,122	92.43	+0.29
Registered electors			14,196

1946 election

1946 general election: Petone^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Mick Moohan	8,545	65.37
	National	George London	4,526	34.62
Majority			4,019	30.74
Turnout			13,071	92.14
Registered electors			14,185

Notes

^ McRobie 1989, pp. 91–96.
^ McRobie 1989, p. 94.
^ McRobie 1989, pp. 115, 119.
^ Wilson 1985, p. 221.
^ Wilson 1985, p. 190.
^ Wilson 1985, p. 270.
^ ^a ^b Norton 1988, p. 318.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Norton 1988, p. 317.
^ "The General Election, 1949". National Library. 1950. pp. 1–5, 8. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
^ "The General Election, 1946". National Library. 1947. pp. 1–11, 14. Retrieved 1 January 2014.

References

McRobie, Alan (1989). Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books. ISBN 0-477-01384-8.
Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.
Norton, Clifford (1988). New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946–1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington. ISBN 0-475-11200-8.

[FOOTNOTEMcRobie198991–96-1] McRobie 1989, pp. 91–96.

[FOOTNOTEMcRobie198994-2] McRobie 1989, p. 94.

[FOOTNOTEMcRobie1989115,_119-3] McRobie 1989, pp. 115, 119.

[FOOTNOTEWilson1985221-4] Wilson 1985, p. 221.

[FOOTNOTEWilson1985190-5] Wilson 1985, p. 190.

[FOOTNOTEWilson1985270-6] Wilson 1985, p. 270.

[FOOTNOTENorton1988318-7] Norton 1988, p. 318.

[FOOTNOTENorton1988317-8] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Norton 1988, p. 317.

[9] "The General Election, 1949". National Library. 1950. pp. 1–5, 8. Retrieved 3 January 2014.

[10] "The General Election, 1946". National Library. 1947. pp. 1–11, 14. Retrieved 1 January 2014.

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