# Mataura (New Zealand electorate)

Mataura was a parliamentary electorate in the Southland Region of New Zealand, from 1866 to 1946.

## Population centres

In the 1865 electoral redistribution, the House of Representatives focussed its review of electorates to South Island electorates only, as the Central Otago gold rush had caused significant population growth, and a redistribution of the existing population. Fifteen additional South Island electorates were created, including Mataura, and the number of Members of Parliament was increased by 13 to 70.
Mataura was located in the rural Southland Region. It covered the area around Invercargill (which had its own urban electorate) and settlements included Bluff, Winton, Gore, Mataura, and Edendale.

## History

Mataura was first established for the 1866 general election. The first representative was Dillon Bell from 1866 until when he retired from politics at the dissolution of parliament in December 1875. Bell was succeeded by William Wood, who won the 1876 election. Wood resigned at the end of 1878, as he had been appointed to the Legislative Council.
Woods resignation caused the 1879 by-election, which was won by James Shanks; he retired at the end of the parliamentary term in 1881. Shanks was succeeded by Francis Wallace Mackenzie, who won the 1881 election, but who was defeated in 1884 by George Richardson. In the 1893 election, Richardson was defeated by Robert McNab of the Liberal Party, but Richardson in turn defeated McNab in the 1896 election. In 1898, Richardson was declared bankrupt, and the resulting 1898 by-election was won by McNab, who served until he was defeated again in the 1908 election.

### Members of Parliament

The electorate was represented by nine Members of Parliament:
Key
Independent Conservative Liberal Reform United National
| Election | Winner |
| 1866 election | Dillon Bell |
| 1871 election | Dillon Bell |
| 1876 election | William Wood |
| 1879 by-election | James Shanks |
| 1879 election | James Shanks |
| 1881 election | Francis Wallace Mackenzie |
| 1884 election | George Richardson |
| 1887 election | George Richardson |
| 1890 election | George Richardson |
| 1893 election | Robert McNab |
| 1896 election | George Richardson (2nd period) |
| 1898 by-election | Robert McNab (2nd period) |
| 1899 election | Robert McNab (2nd period) |
| 1902 election | Robert McNab (2nd period) |
| 1905 election | Robert McNab (2nd period) |
| 1908 election | George Anderson |
| 1911 election | George Anderson |
| 1914 election | George Anderson |
| 1919 election | George Anderson |
| 1922 election | George Anderson |
| 1925 election | George Anderson |
| 1928 election | David McDougall |
| 1931 election | David McDougall |
| 1935 election | David McDougall |
| 1938 election | Tom Macdonald |
| 1943 election | Tom Macdonald |
| (Electorate abolished 1946; see Wallace) |||

## Election results
### 1931 election

1931 general election: Mataura :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | United | David McDougall | 4,254 | 56.23 |
| | Independent | Thomas Golden | 3,311 | 43.77 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 943 | 12.47 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 129 | 1.68 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 7,694 | 83.47 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 9,218 | |

### 1928 election

1928 general election: Mataura :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | United | David McDougall | 4,175 | 50.37 |
| | Reform | George James Anderson | 4,113 | 49.63 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 62 | 0.75 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 48 | 0.58 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 8,336 | 90.67 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 9,194 | |

### 1919 election

1919 general election: Mataura :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Reform | George James Anderson | 3,042 | 52.66 |
| | Independent Liberal | David McDougall | 1,706 | 29.53 |
| | Labour | W. Alexander McLachlan | 848 | 14.68 |
| | Independent Labour | Norman McIntyre | 181 | 3.13 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,336 | 23.13 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 50 | 0.86 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 5,827 | 81.81 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 7,123 | |

### 1899 election

1899 general election: Mataura :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Robert McNab | 2,132 | 51.94 | −3.74 |
| | Conservative | Irven Willis Raymond | 1,973 | 48.06 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 159 | 3.87 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 4,105 | 79.16 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 5,186 | | |

### 1898 by-election

1898 Mataura by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Liberal | Robert McNab | 1,894 | 55.68 |
| | Independent | Wilfrid Francis Ward | 1,507 | 44.31 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 387 | 11.37 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 3,401 | |

### 1890 election

1890 general election: Matarua :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | George Richardson | 836 | 53.97 |
| | Liberal | John Gideon Fraser | 713 | 46.03 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 123 | 7.94 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,549 | 2566 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 2,566 | |

### 1871 election

1871 general election: Mataura :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Independent | Dillon Bell | 235 | 62.17 |
| | Independent | Andrew Kinross | 73 | 19.31 |
| | Independent | Thomas Denniston | 70 | 18.52 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 162 | 42.86 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 378 | 49.28 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 767 | |