Southland (New Zealand electorate)
Southland is an electorate to the New Zealand House of Representatives. It was first created for the 2020 New Zealand general election.
Population centres
Despite its name, the electorate straddles the border between the Southland and Otago regions. It is one of New Zealand's largest electorates and is predominantly rural in nature. The electorate includes Gore, Winton, Mataura, Alexandra, Arrowtown, Queenstown and Te Anau (among others), and much of Fiordland National Park.[1]
History
The Southland electorate emerged at the 2020 redistribution after the Clutha region moved out of the former electorate of Clutha-Southland. It comprised the bulk of Clutha-Southland, plus another area around Alexandra that had been moved in from Waitaki. The Representation Commission initially proposed to move Winton and The Catlins into Invercargill, but after a public consultation process these areas remained in Southland, which instead shed a large area in West Southland around Tuatapere.[2][3]
References
- "Map of electorates for the 2020 and 2023 electorates". 17 April 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
- "Report of the Representation Commission 2020" (PDF). 17 April 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
- Kelly, Rachael (20 November 2019). "Changes to Clutha-Southland, Invercargill electorates under proposed boundary changes". Southland Times. Retrieved 19 April 2020.