Albany (New Zealand electorate)

Albany was a New Zealand parliamentary electorate. It was located in north Auckland, and named after the suburb of Albany. It existed from 1978 to 1984, and then was reinstated in 1987 before its final abolition in 2002.

Population centres

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 out 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 Albany) or re-established. These changes came into effect for the 1978 election.

The Albany electorate was centred on Albany, which had previously been part of the Waitemata electorate. Its territory extended southwards to include Greenhithe and Paremoremo (also formerly part of Waitemata), plus a large portion of Glenfield (formerly split between Waitemata and East Coast Bays). It extended northwards to include Okura, Orewa, and Stanmore Bay (which were formerly part of the Rodney electorate). For the 1984 election, however, the electorate was abolished. Glenfield and Greenhithe were split off to form the Glenfield electorate, and most of the remainder (including Albany itself) was absorbed into the Rodney electorate.

The 1987 electoral redistribution took the continued population growth in the North Island into account, and two additional general electorates were created, bringing the total number of electorates to 97. Overall, three electorates were newly created, three electorates were recreated (including Albany), and four electorates were abolished. All of those electorates were in the North Island. These changes came into effect with the 1987 election. The Albany electorate was based around the portion of the former Albany which had been merged into Rodney, plus Greenhithe (which had become part of Glenfield). Glenfield itself remained its own electorate. The new Albany also included Hobsonville and Whenuapai, taken from West Auckland, and stretched as far north as Orewa. For the 1990 election, the electorate expanded to the west slightly, towards Kumeū, but this was effectively reversed at the 1993 election. When the transition to MMP prompted a major redistribution at the 1996 election, most of the Glenfield seat was merged into Albany, almost bringing the seat back to its original shape in 1978. It lost some ground to the west at the 1999 election. For the 2002 election, the seat was abolished once again — its western territories, including Greenhithe and Albany itself, became part of the new Helensville electorate, while the remainder was established as the new East Coast Bays electorate.

History

Don McKinnon of the National Party was the first representative of the electorate. He served for two terms from 1978, and successfully contested the Rodney electorate in the 1984 election. Murray McCully of the National Party represented the electorate from 1987 until its abolition in 2002.

Members of Parliament

Election results

The electorate was a safe National Party seat throughout its existence. Notable results include the 1993 election, where Don McKinnon won with 37.75% of the vote in a closely contested three-way race against the Alliance (20.87%) and New Zealand First (19.88%). In the 1996 election (the first under MMP), Murray McCully won with 49.67% of the candidate vote. In the final 1999 election, McCully held the seat with 40.18% of the candidate vote.