Electorate totals for petition signatures

Press, 19 September 1985, Page 37

Electorate totals for petition signatures

PA Wellington Opponents of the Homosexual Law Reform Bill have sought to put pressure on members of Parliament by releasing a breakdown of the numbers who have signed the petition against the bill in each electorate.

The 800,000-signature petition will be presented to the House next Tuesday. One of the petition organisers, the Member of Parliament for Hauraki, Mr Graeme Lee, said members of Parliament ignoring the figures for their own electorates did so at their peril. Low figures in some electorates were the result of a lack of resources available to the petitioners, he said.

The two Hamilton electorates topped the list with 20,299 people signing the petition in Hamilton East and 17,608 signatures in Hamilton West. However, only 530 people signed in the Wellington electorate of Pencarrow and 859 in Manawatu.

The next highest electorate was Invercargill, held by a vigorous opponent of the bill, Mr Norman Jones, where 16,923 people signed. The bill was sponsored by the Wellington Central member of Parliament, Ms Fran Wilde, and the figures released by Mr Lee show 7427 people signed the petition in her electorate.

A total of 7633 signed in Mr Lee’s electorate. The breakdown of the 787,621 signatures did not include the Maori seats because, Mr Lee said, there was no way of knowing whether a signature was on the Maori roll.

That could “blur” some of the figures, he said. The following is a breakdown of the signatures on the petition: Ashburton electorate, 22,935 (total electors), 472 (member’s majority), 5544 (petition signatures); Auckland Central, 22,689, 8876, 7607; Avon, 21,937, 7771, 6813; Awarua, 21,238, 384, 1796. Bay of Islands, 20,336, 3298,

8742; Birkenhead, 23,370, 1717, 9177; Christchurch Central, 23,599, 8508, 10,186; Christchurch North, 23,413, 5728, 9204; Clutha, 20,640. 4522, 8194. Dunedin North, 23,062, 5129, 7953; Dunedin West, 23,619, 6011, 9150.

East Cape, 20,025, 755, 8580; East Coast Bays, 23,588, 2020, 9279; Eastern Hutt, 21,203, 6005, 6346; Eden, 24,406, 2306, 9963. Fendalton, 23,854, 1457, 4297; Franklin, 22,701, 5210, 8728. Gisborne, 22,661, 2168, 10,996; Glenfield, 22,548, 809, 8638. Hamilton East, 20,873, 1100, 20,299; Hamilton West, 21,359, 803, 17,608; Hastings, 23,423, 4273, 9833; Hauraki, 22,607, 3432, 7633; Hawkes Bay, 21,320, 974, 4849; Heretaunga, 20,818, 4537, 6392; Horowhenua, 24,715, 447, 7916. Invercargill, 22,291, 1279, 16,923; Island Bay, 21,382, 6007, 3587.

Kaimai, 23,752, 3696, 7502; Kaipara, 22,351, 5564, 8029; Kapiti, 23,420, 4514, 10,649; King Country, 20.477, 5617, 5310.

Lyttelton, 25,127, 4963, 5139; Manawatu, 22,566, 420, 859; Mangere, 17,001, 8375, 13,454; Manurewa, 20,528, 4933, 11,666; Marlborough, 23,590, 612, 8476;

Matamata, 20,432, 5785, 8302; Miramar, 24,072, 3499, 5981; Mt Albert, 23,995, 6207, 10,117. Napier, 22,784, 6399, 9499; Nelson, 23,222, 3678, 12,142; New Lynn, 22,182, 6340, 11,289; New Plymouth, 23,717, 269. 7795;' North Shore, 25,553, 3710, 9234 Oliariu, 22,944, 1371, 4968; Onehunga, 24,740. 4508, 9754; Otago, 22,500, 1375, 8218; Otara, 19,167, 6519, 13,902. Pahiatua, 21,199, 5478, 5779; Pakuranga, 24,510, 172, 9259; Palmerston North, 22,333, 3033, 12,838; Panmure, 20,519, 5979, 9231; Papakura, 21,453, 1447, 9765; Papatoetoe, 21,915, 2996, 9158; Pencarrow, 20,580, 5418, 530; Porirua, 19,945, 5418, 7212.

Raglan, 20,603, 1976, 3625; Rangiora, 22,257, 346, 6029; Rangitikei, 21,469, 504, 7021; Remuera, 22,590, 3483, 7700; Rodney, 25,281, 3876, 10,714; Roskill, 23,214, 4208, 12,515; Rotorua, 21,057, 811, 8895. St Albans, 23,704, 6172, 4386; St Kilda, 23,105, 5594, 7776; Selwyn, 21,569, 3829, 9210; Sydenham, 23,205, 7255, 4730. Tamaki, 24,607, 3758, 9065; Taranaki, 22,303, 6013, 5771; Tarawera, 20,317, 3377, 4082; Tasman, 22,599, 1854, 11,732; Tauranga, 24,896, 4912, 15,721; Te Atatu; 21,954, 4991, 11,336; Timaru, 24,594, 1492, 15,059; Tongariro, 18,874, 3870, 5697.

Waikaremoana, 19,336, 1737, 5358; Waikato, 20,003, 1658, 4580; Waipa, 21,092, 5667, 8,972; Wairarapa, 22,589, 394, 10,031; Waitakere, 22,471, 4474, 7580; Waitaki, 20,338, 561, 8644; Waitotara, 21,374, 3314, 5415; Wallace, 20,737, 5663, 9497; Wanganui, 23,965, 3918, 10,463; Wellington Central, 25,200, 4116, 7427; West Auckland, 23,247, 2229, 8151; West Coast, 21,803, 4293, 7436; Western Hutt, 22,050, 4348, 16,244; Whangarei, 23,814, 2003, 11,052. Yaldhurst, 24,298, 2970, 4506.