Election Name: | 1967 Southern Maori by-election |
Country: | New Zealand |
Flag Year: | 1967 |
Type: | presidential |
Previous Election: | 1966 New Zealand general election |
Previous Year: | 1966 general |
Next Election: | 1969 New Zealand general election |
Next Year: | 1969 general |
Turnout: | 6,686 (50.47%) |
Candidate1: | Whetu Tirikatene |
Party1: | New Zealand Labour Party |
Popular Vote1: | 4,968 |
Percentage1: | 74.31 |
Candidate2: | Baden Pere |
Party2: | New Zealand National Party |
Popular Vote2: | 1,371 |
Percentage2: | 20.51 |
MP | |
Before Election: | Sir Eruera Tirikatene |
Before Party: | New Zealand Labour Party |
After Election: | Whetu Tirikatene |
After Party: | New Zealand Labour Party |
The Southern Māori by-election of 1967 was a by-election for the electorate of Southern Maori on 11 March 1967 during the 35th New Zealand Parliament. The by-election resulted from the death of the previous member Sir Eruera Tirikatene on 11 January 1967.
The by-election was won by his daughter Whetu Tirikatene (later Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan), also of the Labour Party.
Tirikatene's son, Te Rino Tirikatene, who had stood unsuccessfully for the Labour Party in the and for, was initially expected to succeed him as MP for Southern Maori. As Te Rino was part-Maori and entitled to choose between being on the Maori and European electoral rolls, at the time of the by-election he was registered on the European roll in Rangiora where he had to remain under the electoral act until the next general election, which made it unlikely he would be eligible as a candidate in Southern Maori. With Te Rino effectively ruled out, attention turned to Tirikatene's daughter Whetu (who was studying in Australia at the time) as the likely Labour candidate for the seat.[1] [2] The Labour Party eventually chose Whetu Tirikatene as its candidate.[3] [4]
The following table gives the election results:
Tirikatene was elected with a huge majority, becoming the youngest woman to have been elected to Parliament to that time.[3] Contrary to normal trends the candidate from the incumbent party increased their vote and majority. Leader of the Opposition Norman Kirk said he was encouraged by the result due to the swing to Labour being consistent across the electorate, which covered the area of 40 general seats, many of which were marginal. It also encompassed the seats of and, both of which had pending by-elections.[7]