Ōhāriu (previously spelled Ohariu and Ōhariu) is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate returning one Member of Parliament to the House of Representatives. It first existed from 1978 to 1993, and again from 2008 until 2026.
The electorate will be abolished ahead of the 2026 general election.
The current MP for Ōhāriu is Greg O'Connor of the Labour Party. He has held this position since 2017.
Population centres Ōhāriu is located in the north of Wellington City, providing representation for the suburbs between Crofton Downs and Tawa, including Ngaio, Khandallah, Johnsonville and Newlands. The Lower Hutt suburbs of Korokoro, Maungaraki and Normandale were in the electorate from 2008 until 2014.
History The 1977 electoral redistribution was the most overtly political since the Representation Commission had been established through an amendment to the Representation Act in 1886, initiated by Muldoon's National Government. As part of the 1976 census, a large number of people failed to fill in an electoral re-registration card, and census staff had not been given the authority to insist on the card being completed. This had little practical effect for people on the general roll, but it transferred Māori to the general roll if the card was not handed in. Together with a northward shift of New Zealand's population, this resulted in five new electorates having to be created in the upper part of the North Island. The electoral redistribution was very disruptive, and 22 electorates were abolished, while 27 electorates were newly created (including Ohariu) or re-established. These changes came into effect for the .
Ohariu replaced the electorate, but did not include any of Khandallah or Ngaio. It ceased to exist in 1990, when it was replaced by the recreated Onslow electorate.
Ōhariu (now spelled with a leading macron) was reinstated for the 2008 general election. Its boundaries were very similar to the former Ohariu-Belmont electorate, except the Belmont area (part of Lower Hutt) was lost to Rimutaka in exchange for Ōhariu picking up Crofton Downs from . At its re-creation the electorate stretched from Crofton Downs to southern Tawa, including Ngaio, Khandallah, Johnsonville and Newlands. Korokoro, Maungaraki and Normandale were included in the electorate until 2014.
Peter Dunne was the longserving representative of Ōhāriu (and the electorates that came between its abolition and reinstatement) from 1984 until his retirement in 2017.
The 2025 boundary review required a reduction in North Island electorates by one to reflect nationwide population shifts. The three Wellington City electorates (Rongotai, Wellington Central and Ōhāriu) were all underpopulated. All were abolished. The population of Ōhāriu was redistributed to , Kenepuru and Hutt South.
Members of Parliament Key
Election Winner rowspan=2 Hugh Templeton rowspan=3 Peter Dunne (Electorate abolished 1993–2008, see and ) rowspan=3 Peter Dunne rowspan=3 Greg O'Connor
List MPs Members of Parliament elected from party lists in elections where that person also unsuccessfully contested the Ōhāriu electorate. Unless otherwise stated, all MPs terms began and ended at general elections. Election Winner Charles Chauvel Katrina Shanks2010 Gareth Hughes Charles Chauvel Gareth Hughes Katrina Shanks rowspan=2 Brett Hudson Nicola Willis
Election results 2023 election
2020 election
2017 election
2014 election
2011 election
Electorate (as at 26 November 2011): 46,740
2008 election
1990 election
1987 election
1984 election
1981 election
1978 election
Table footnotes
Notes
References