Hon Judith Collins
Minister of Justice
3 September 2013 Media Statement
Representatives chosen to determine electoral boundaries
Justice Minister Judith Collins today announced the appointment of the four political nominees on the Representation
Commission.
The Commission is responsible for determining the number of electoral districts in New Zealand and fixing the boundaries
for those electorates.
“The Government’s representatives will be Hon Roger Sowry and, for the Māori electoral boundaries, Daniel Te Kanawa,” Ms
Collins says.
“Representing the Opposition parties will be Hon Pete Hodgson and, for the Māori electoral boundaries, Whetu Wereta.”
When setting the general electoral district boundaries, the Commission consists of the Chairperson, four ex officio
members (the Surveyor-General, the Government Statistician, the Chief Electoral Officer and the Chairperson of the Local
Government Commission) and two political representatives, appointed by the Governor-General on the nomination of
Parliament – one to represent the Government and one to represent the Opposition.
When setting the Māori electoral district boundaries, the Commission’s membership consists of all the members described
above, plus the Chief Executive of Te Puni Kokiri, and two political representatives, who must be Māori, appointed by
the Governor-General on the nomination of Parliament, one to represent the Government and one the Opposition.
Biographical information
Hon Roger Sowry
Mr Sowry was a Member of Parliament from 1990 to 2005. He was chief whip from 1994 to 1996 and chaired the Health Select
Committee from 1993 to 1996. Following the 1996 election, he was appointed to Cabinet as Minister of Social Welfare, a
position he held for three years. He also served as Associate Minister of Health from 1996 to 1998 and Leader of the
House from 1998 to 1999. He retired from Parliament in 2005 and took up the position of Chief Executive of Arthritis New
Zealand. In 2008 he joined the government relations consultancy firm Saunders Unsworth.
Hon Pete Hodgson
Mr Hodgson retired from Parliament in 2011 after 21 years as the Member of Parliament for Dunedin North. At various
times within that period he held the ministerial portfolios of Economic Development, Tertiary Education, Research
Science and Technology, Health, Transport, Commerce, Land Information, Statistics, Energy and Fisheries and Forestry. He
is currently an Associate at Tuia Consulting and is the Chairperson of the Australian and New Zealand Council for the
Care of Animals in Research and Teaching.
Daniel Te Kanawa
Mr Te Kanawa is the Chief Executive of the Tuhono Māori Affiliation Service and has been a Trustee of the Ngāti
Maniapoto Marae Pact Trust representing the Oparure Marae since 1981. He is also a current trustee of the Maniapoto
Māori Trust Board and The Puniu Land Trust. Mr Te Kanawa holds a New Zealand Certificate in Draughting (Civil
Engineering). His tribal affiliations are Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Kinohaku, Ngāti Rora, Ngāti Uekaha, and Ngāti Pare Te
Kawa, Ngāti Apakura.
Whetu Wereta
Mrs Wereta is a political scientist and statistician. She was a member of the New Zealand Royal Commission on the
Electoral System that recommended New Zealand adopts mixed member proportional representation (MMP) for elections. In
1994, she was appointed to the four-person Māori Committee to the New Zealand Law Commission – set up to review, reform
and develop the law of New Zealand. Mrs Wereta has served four previous terms on the Representation Commission. She
belongs to the Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngāti Ranginui iwi.
ENDS