Piako was a 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 electorate

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...

.

It was held by Lindsay Tisch

Lindsay Tisch

William Lindsay Tisch, known as Lindsay Tisch, JP, is a New Zealand politician, and member of the National Party.-Member of Parliament:...

 MP from 2002 to 2008.

Population centres

The electorate included the population centres of Matamata

Matamata

Matamata is a rural Waikato town in New Zealand with a population of around 12,000 . It is located near the base of the Kaimai Ranges, and is a thriving farming area known for Thoroughbred horse breeding and training pursuits...

, Cambridge

Cambridge, New Zealand

Cambridge is a town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. Situated 24 kilometres southeast of Hamilton, on the banks of the Waikato River, Cambridge is known as "The Town of Trees & Champions".In the 1840s Cambridge had a Maori population but in the 1850's missionaries and...

, Morrinsville

Morrinsville

Morrinsville is a town in the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. The land for the town and surrounding farmland was purchased from Wirimu Tamehana,the king maker prior to the NZ land wars of the 1860s. The land then was very swampy...

, Te Aroha

Te Aroha

Te Aroha is a rural town in the Waikato region of New Zealand with a population of 3,768 . It is 53 km northeast of Hamilton and 50 km south of Thames. It sits at the foot of 952-metre Mount Te Aroha, the highest point in the Kaimai Range....

, Waharoa

Waharoa

Waharoa is a rural community in New Zealand.Waharoa is the railway junction of the Kinleith Branch railway with the East Coast Main Trunk Railway.State Highway 27 runs through the town.-Schools:...

, Waitoa

Waitoa

Waitoa is a settlement in New Zealand. The population in the 2006 census was 318, a decrease of 42 people since 2001.A Fonterra dairy factory is a prominent blue building in the middle of the town....

, Waharoa

Waharoa

Waharoa is a rural community in New Zealand.Waharoa is the railway junction of the Kinleith Branch railway with the East Coast Main Trunk Railway.State Highway 27 runs through the town.-Schools:...

, Huntly

Huntly, New Zealand

Huntly is a town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is on State Highway 1, 93 kilometres south of Auckland and 35 kilometres north of Hamilton. It is situated on the North Island Main Trunk Railway and straddles the Waikato River.Huntly was called Rahui Pokeka when...

, Ngaruawahia

Ngaruawahia

Ngāruawāhia is a town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located 20 km north-west of Hamilton at the confluence of the Waikato and Waipa Rivers...

, and Ohaupo.

History

Piako was a rural Waikato electorate from 1946 to 1954, then from 1957 to 1978, when it was renamed Matamata

Matamata (New Zealand electorate)

Matamata was a New Zealand parliamentary electorate in the Waikato, from 1978 to 1996. It was a rural and safe National electorate, held by Jack Luxton from 1978 to 1987, and then by his son John Luxton from 1987 to 1996.-Population centres:...

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Piako was resurrected for the 2002 general election

New Zealand general election, 2002

The 2002 New Zealand general election was held on 27 July 2002 to determine the composition of the 47th New Zealand Parliament. It saw the reelection of Helen Clark's Labour Party government, as well as the worst-ever performance by the opposition National Party.Arguably the most controversial...

, replacing Karapiro.

Under boundary changes for the 2008 general election

New Zealand general election, 2008

The 2008 New Zealand general election was held on 8 November 2008 to determine the composition of the 49th New Zealand parliament. The conservative National Party, headed by its Parliamentary leader John Key, won a plurality of votes and seats, ending 9 years of government dominated by the social...

, Piako ceased to exist as an electorate. Its population centres were distributed between the neighbouring seats of Hunua

Hunua

The Hunua electorate existed three times for the New Zealand House of Representatives beginning in 1978, based at the south end of the Auckland urban area, and named for the Hunua Ranges. It covered different geographical areas over those periods...

 and Papakura

Papakura (New Zealand electorate)

rightPapakura has been the name of two seats in the New Zealand House of Representatives, both based around the south Auckland town of Papakura. Historically, the name refers to an electorate that existed between 1978 and 1996, which with the advent of Mixed Member Proportional voting and resulting...

. Officially, Piako was be replaced on paper by the seat of Waikato

Waikato (New Zealand electorate)

rightWaikato is the name of a current electorate in the New Zealand Parliament from 2006; which earlier existed for two periods, 1871 to 1960 and 1969 to 1996 when MMP was introduced....

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Piako and its predecessors have always been considered safe National seats. They were held by Jack Luxton

Jack Luxton

John Finlay "Jack" Luxton, QSO was a dairy farmer and New Zealand politician. He entered Parliament in 1966 as the National Party member for Piako and then, after boundary changes, Matamata. He represented the predominantly rural electorate for 21 years, to 1987.Luxton was a dairy farmer in...

 from 1966 to 1987, then his son John Luxton

John Luxton

Murray John Finlay Luxton, QSO is a former New Zealand National Party politician, and a son of Jack Luxton who had previously held the same seat of Matamata...

 from 1987 to 1999, then by Lindsay Tisch

Lindsay Tisch

William Lindsay Tisch, known as Lindsay Tisch, JP, is a New Zealand politician, and member of the National Party.-Member of Parliament:...

 from 1999 to 2008.

Election results

	Election	Winner
	1946 election New Zealand general election, 1946 The 1946 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 28th term. It saw the governing Labour Party re-elected, but by a substantially narrower margin than in the three previous elections...	William Goosman William Goosman Sir William Stanley Goosman, KCMG was a New Zealand politician of the National Party.He was the Member of Parliament for Waikato 1938-46, Piako 1946-54, Waipa 1954-57, then Piako again 1957-63, when he retired.... (National New Zealand National Party The New Zealand National Party is the largest party in the New Zealand House of Representatives and in November 2008 formed a minority government with support from three minor parties.-Policies:... )
	1949 election New Zealand general election, 1949 The 1949 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 29th term. It saw the governing Labour Party defeated by the opposition National Party...
	1951 election New Zealand general election, 1951 The 1951 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 30th term. It saw the governing National Party remain in office, increasing its lead over the opposition Labour Party.-Background:...
	1957 election New Zealand general election, 1957 The 1957 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 32nd term. It saw the governing National Party narrowly defeated by the Labour Party...	William Goosman William Goosman Sir William Stanley Goosman, KCMG was a New Zealand politician of the National Party.He was the Member of Parliament for Waikato 1938-46, Piako 1946-54, Waipa 1954-57, then Piako again 1957-63, when he retired.... (National New Zealand National Party The New Zealand National Party is the largest party in the New Zealand House of Representatives and in November 2008 formed a minority government with support from three minor parties.-Policies:... )
	1960 election New Zealand general election, 1960 The 1960 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 33rd term. It saw the governing Labour Party defeated by the National Party, putting an end to the short second Labour government.-Background:...
	1963 election New Zealand general election, 1963 The 1963 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 34th term. The results were almost identical to those for the previous election, and the governing National Party remained in office....	Geoffrey Sim Geoffrey Sim Geoffrey Fantham Sim, QSO was a New Zealand politician of the National Party.He represented the Rotorua electorate from 1943 to 1946, then the Waikato electorate from 1946 to 1963, then the Piako electorate from 1963 to 1966 when he retired. He was awarded a Q.S.O. in 1978.-References:*New... (National New Zealand National Party The New Zealand National Party is the largest party in the New Zealand House of Representatives and in November 2008 formed a minority government with support from three minor parties.-Policies:... )
	1966 election New Zealand general election, 1966 The 1966 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 35th term. It saw the governing National Party win a third consecutive term in office...	Jack Luxton Jack Luxton John Finlay "Jack" Luxton, QSO was a dairy farmer and New Zealand politician. He entered Parliament in 1966 as the National Party member for Piako and then, after boundary changes, Matamata. He represented the predominantly rural electorate for 21 years, to 1987.Luxton was a dairy farmer in... (National New Zealand National Party The New Zealand National Party is the largest party in the New Zealand House of Representatives and in November 2008 formed a minority government with support from three minor parties.-Policies:... )
	1969 election New Zealand general election, 1969 The 1969 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 36th term. It saw the governing National Party win a fourth consecutive term, under Prime Minister Keith Holyoake.-The Election:...
	1972 election New Zealand general election, 1972 The New Zealand general election of 1972 was held to elect MPs to the 37th session of the New Zealand Parliament. The Labour Party, led by Norman Kirk, defeated the governing National Party.-Background:...
	1975 election New Zealand general election, 1975 The 1975 New Zealand general election was held to elect MPs to the 38th session of the New Zealand Parliament. It was the first election in New Zealand where 18-20 year olds and all permanent residents of New Zealand were eligible to vote, although only citizens were able to be...
	2002 election New Zealand general election, 2002 The 2002 New Zealand general election was held on 27 July 2002 to determine the composition of the 47th New Zealand Parliament. It saw the reelection of Helen Clark's Labour Party government, as well as the worst-ever performance by the opposition National Party.Arguably the most controversial...	Lindsay Tisch Lindsay Tisch William Lindsay Tisch, known as Lindsay Tisch, JP, is a New Zealand politician, and member of the National Party.-Member of Parliament:... (National New Zealand National Party The New Zealand National Party is the largest party in the New Zealand House of Representatives and in November 2008 formed a minority government with support from three minor parties.-Policies:... )
	2005 election New Zealand general election, 2005 The 2005 New Zealand general election held on 17 September 2005 determined the composition of the 48th New Zealand Parliament. No party won a majority in the unicameral House of Representatives, but the Labour Party of Prime Minister Helen Clark secured two more seats than nearest rival, the...

External links

• Electorate Profile Parliamentary Library