The 1977 electoral redistribution, initiated by Robert Muldoon's National Government, was the most overtly political since the Representation Commission had been established in 1886 through an amendment to the Representation Act.[1] 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.[2] The electoral redistribution was very disruptive, and 22 electorates were abolished, while 27 electorates were newly created (including Papatoetoe) or re-established. These changes came into effect for the 1978 election.[3] Papatoetoe was created from parts of the Mangere and Manukau electorates in the 1977 redistribution.
The electorate is urban-suburban, based on the suburb of Papatoetoe, and was in Manukau City, South Auckland. At various times it also included parts of the suburbs of Ōtara, Wiri, and Māngere. To the north it bordered on the Tāmaki River, and between 1984 and 1987 it reached the eastern edge of Manukau Harbour. It also bordered on the electorates of Otahuhu, Hunua, Manurewa, and Mangere from 1978 to 1984, and Panmure, Otara, Manurewa, and Māngere from 1984 to 1996. The Papatoetoe electorate was eventually absorbed into Māngere and the newly created Manukau East electorates for the 1996 election.
The electorate existed from 1978 to the introduction of mixed-member proportional (MMP) representation in 1996 and was represented by two Labour MPs. In the 1978 election, the Papatoetoe electorate was won by Eddie Isbey, who had been MP for the Grey Lynn electorate since 1969 election.[4] Isbey retired at the 1987 election and was succeeded by Ross Robertson. When the Papatoetoe electorate was abolished in 1996, Robertson transferred to the Manukau East electorate, which he represented until 2014.[5]
McRobie, Alan (1989). New Zealand Electoral Atlas. Wellington: Government Printer. pp. 118–127. ISBN0-477-01384-8.
Norton, Clifford (1988). New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946-1987. Victoria University of Wellington, Dept. of Political Science. pp. 67–80, 313. ISBN0-475-11200-8.
Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC154283103.
