PARLIAMENTARY BOUNDARIES

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 47, 17 August 1911, Page 7

PARLIAMENTARY BOUNDARIES

; -T " I CijIOWTH OF POPULATION. , , EFFECT ON THE NORTH ISLAND. .SOME EXTENSIVE ALTERATIONS. . • . , Wellington, August M. ! There was quite a flutter in the Par-. diampjitarv ,dovecot to-day when the ~Gazette, .with, the new electoral boun;darje§, «ame. out. At first, there were , only,, three copies available, and mo;.iibers Growded into, the press room, where the, correspondents were l)us.y,.>wjth these. As was anticipated, tthc,.North.lsland gains one. Some, very ~radical'alterations have - been made in jtlie. South-Island seats, notably in Otago, ; : >rhije,.in ,tJie..!Siortli Island the principal ,sUera,tio)is,,sirp,,in the centre of the bland. •. ■. Radical alterations have been made of the rural districts of the JCorth,lnland. The most striking e^n^es' have. Wia'de in the extensive area'of the'Ailekland province, south of the city, the"creation of the new electorate of Raglan having necessitated a _ .'.revision of the districts «d----;joining'.i;t, wliile the rapid development 'along the route of the Main' Trunk railway Jias had a marked effect upon the '.allocation'Of'the electoral areas. Tautilarunui )io longer enjoys the distinc,tiojt of' being the largest constituency in "thp North Island,, for it has been relieved of iiiiich of its bulk, principally by the extension of Rangitikei. In respect of actUiil iiifea, the Bay of Plenty is much larger than any other district in .the Island, The number of members in the House fit Rcjjresejita.tives allotted tp the North _"LsWtYa"iy 42,' rind the' number allotted .'to: the '.whfoll the basis of the Conimis*\««'erk' dalc.iilations was 15,180. The ''adttiql.'.ppjiiilation of the North Island 'is. 083,729, of, which 278,210 is urban and 2M,513 rural, and. the nominal populawa* calculated to be 643,673. An 'urban, population of -233,978, made the "nominal to'tal ,fof the South Island 509.9!ll. 'When the 'boundaries were revised . .1900..the' North' Island received a jract'ioi'r a seat more than the num'her to. tvhix?li ,)t was actually entitled. Tjfic of '.its population during the interval Jias been so much m'ort i'.iniil "iji'itn the increase in the South.jfsland'tMt-it has actually qualified' to ta'ke "oitb seat and a fraction of a second' from the South Island, This fraction, exceeds one-half in the case of the'latter, and the position has been adjusted bv the repayment of the "loan," forwfileh the North Island has been in debt since the previous revision. Under -the Legislature Act, objection may be made to the decisions of the Commissions, and lill objections which are made ifti writing'By'September 13 will be considered on the following day. Though the decisions of previous commissions may not be taken as a precedent, it ir. interesting to note that only one minor alteration was made in the boundaries J# 1900. It is not expected that any alterations of importance will be made now. A general description of ,th,e .'new, electoral .district.!},,is given in % G.azetto, but in the majority of eases , i.t (jonyeys little information to the laymaii., ,Spme .assistance in understanding the proposals of the Commissions is affprded by the maps which were published later in the day, but these shpw only the principla .divisions, .of .the two Islands. The large scale plans of the city electorates will not be available until later. The first copies of the Gazette that, entered. Parliament House were the property of the newspaper representatives, and for an hour the Press Gallery was crowded by members of Parliament eager to gain some information regarding the contents of the reports which have been awaited with so much anxiety since the session opened, The most interesting feature of the proposals of the North Island Commission is the radical alterations which have been made in the electoral districts lying in the south of Auckland City as far down as Rangitikei. In the. South Island the greatest changes have been wrought in Otago, principally as a result of the extinction of the Taieri district.—Special correspondent Wanganui Chronicle.

TAUMARUNUL The Taumarunui electoral district comprises the ridings of Taliaroa. Awaroa, Te Kuri and Waiharakeke, of Ivawhia coipity; whole of Waitomo county', less that portion of Te Ran Moa riding now included in the electoral district of Waikato; that portion of West Taupo county lying to the southwest of a right line drawn from Purerora to the month of Waihora stream; Waihi, Tikorangi, Urenui and Mokau ridings of Clifton county, and the part of Ngatimaru riding already in the existing electoral district of Taumarunui; that portion of Waitara West road district lying to the west of Waitara. river, including the village of Huirangi, and north of Cross road to Maitaitawa road, thence by the existing Taranaki electoral district to Mahoetahi road, and thence by that road to the sea. This district includes the boroughs of Te Kuiti, Taumarunui and Waitara.