Te Puku O Te Whenua or "the belly of the land" was one of the five new New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 Parliamentary Māori

Maori seats

In New Zealand politics, Māori electorates, colloquially also called Māori seats, are a special category of electorate that gives reserved positions to representatives of Māori in the New Zealand Parliament...

 electorates

New Zealand electorates

An electorate is a voting district for elections to the Parliament of New Zealand. In informal discussion, electorates are often called seats. The most formal description, electoral district, is rarely seen outside of electoral legislation. Before 1996, all Members of Parliament were directly...

 created in 1996

New Zealand general election, 1996

The 1996 New Zealand general election was held on 12 October 1996 to determine the composition of the 45th New Zealand Parliament. It was notable for being the first election to be held under the new Mixed Member Proportional electoral system, and produced a parliament considerably more diverse...

 for MMP. It was replaced in the 1999 election

New Zealand general election, 1999

The 1999 New Zealand general election was held on 27 November 1999 to determine the composition of the 46th New Zealand Parliament. The governing National Party, led by Prime Minister Jenny Shipley, was defeated, being replaced by a coalition of Helen Clark's Labour Party and the smaller Alliance...

.

Population Centres

The electorate includes the following population centres:

• (To be completed)

Tribal Areas

The electorate includes the following tribal areas:

History

Te Puku O Te Whenua, or the belly of the land, was one of the five new Māori seats created for the 1996 election

New Zealand general election, 1996

The 1996 New Zealand general election was held on 12 October 1996 to determine the composition of the 45th New Zealand Parliament. It was notable for being the first election to be held under the new Mixed Member Proportional electoral system, and produced a parliament considerably more diverse...

 with the introduction of MMP

Mixed member proportional representation

Mixed-member proportional representation, also termed mixed-member proportional voting and commonly abbreviated to MMP, is a voting system originally used to elect representatives to the German Bundestag, and nowadays adopted by numerous legislatures around the world...

, and which were all won by the Tight Five

Tight Five

-Parliamentary terms:-History:The Tight Five was a nickname given to the five Māori elected to the New Zealand Parliament in 1996 from the centrist/nationalist New Zealand First party....

 of the New Zealand First

New Zealand First

New Zealand First is a political party in New Zealand that was founded in 1993, following party founder Winston Peters' resignation from the National Party in 1992...

 from Labour

New Zealand Labour Party

The New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party. It describes itself as centre-left and socially progressive and has been one of the two primary parties of New Zealand politics since 1935....

. The 1996 election was won by Rana Waitai

Rana Waitai

Rana Donald Waitai is a former politician. He was an MP from 1996 to 1999.-Early years:His father was Te Rangi Koroingo Te Oreore Waitai born and died in Lower Hutt...

.

In the 1999 election

New Zealand general election, 1999

The 1999 New Zealand general election was held on 27 November 1999 to determine the composition of the 46th New Zealand Parliament. The governing National Party, led by Prime Minister Jenny Shipley, was defeated, being replaced by a coalition of Helen Clark's Labour Party and the smaller Alliance...

 it was substantially replaced by Ikaroa-Rāwhiti

Ikaroa-Rawhiti

thumb|rightIkaroa-Rāwhiti is a New Zealand Parliamentary Māori electorate.It is currently held by Parekura Horomia MP.-Population Centres:The electorate includes the following population centres:* Gisborne* Napier* Hastings* Masterton* Upper Hutt...

.

Election results

	Election	Winner
	1996 election New Zealand general election, 1996 The 1996 New Zealand general election was held on 12 October 1996 to determine the composition of the 45th New Zealand Parliament. It was notable for being the first election to be held under the new Mixed Member Proportional electoral system, and produced a parliament considerably more diverse...	Rana Waitai Rana Waitai Rana Donald Waitai is a former politician. He was an MP from 1996 to 1999.-Early years:His father was Te Rangi Koroingo Te Oreore Waitai born and died in Lower Hutt...  (New Zealand First New Zealand First New Zealand First is a political party in New Zealand that was founded in 1993, following party founder Winston Peters' resignation from the National Party in 1992... )