40-570: Morrinsville ( Māori : Mōrena ) is a provincial town in the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island , with an estimated population of 9,710 as of June 2024. The town is located at the northern base of the Pakaroa Range, and on the south-western fringe of the Hauraki Plains . Morrinsville is around 33 kilometres east of Hamilton and 22 kilometres west of Te Aroha . The town is bordered by
80-469: A pan-ethnic group of New Zealanders associated with, and descended from, the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Islands (also known as Pacific Islanders ) outside of New Zealand itself. They form the fourth-largest ethnic grouping in the country, after European descendants , indigenous Māori , and Asian New Zealanders . Over 380,000 people identify as being of Pacific origin, representing 8% of
120-520: A daily service (#22) between Hamilton and Paeroa via Te Aroha . A 1.8 km (1.1 mi) walkway runs beside Waitakaruru Stream and one of 1.3 km (0.81 mi) beside the Piako River. There was a plan in 2008 to combine these walkways into a route of 5.24 km (3.26 mi). There are also shorter walkways on the north east edge of town. List of towns in New Zealand This
160-430: A local government "District" (which occasionally has the same name), but the rest, such as Wainuiomata , Pukerua Bay , and Port Chalmers , are within city council boundaries, and are often referred to as suburbs of their respective cities. Many were boroughs during most of the twentieth century, and some earlier. Pasifika New Zealanders Pasifika New Zealanders (also called Pacific Peoples ) are
200-574: A multicultural and urban lifestyle. As these houses were purchased, the available rental stock plummeted, and Pasifika families who tended to rent more began to relocate to suburbs further out from the city centre. The Pasifika populations in Ponsonby and Freemans Bay peaked in 1976. Grey Lynn continued to have a large Pasifika population (particularly Samoan ) until the mid-1980s. The umbrella term Pasifika , meaning "Pacific" in Polynesian languages ,
240-498: A particular Pacific nation and their descendants – are Samoan New Zealanders (182,721 people), Tongan New Zealanders (82,389), Cook Island Māori (80,532), and Niueans (30,867). In 1993, Samoan-born Taito Phillip Field became the first Pasifika member of parliament (MP), when he won the Otara electorate seat for Labour . Field was joined in 1996 by Samoan politicians Mark Gosche and Arthur Anae (the first Pasifika MP from
280-652: A population of 7,761 at the 2018 New Zealand census , an increase of 768 people (11.0%) since the 2013 census , and an increase of 1,158 people (17.5%) since the 2006 census . There were 2,934 households, comprising 3,699 males and 4,062 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.91 males per female, with 1,533 people (19.8%) aged under 15 years, 1,467 (18.9%) aged 15 to 29, 3,138 (40.4%) aged 30 to 64, and 1,626 (21.0%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 83.4% European/ Pākehā , 18.1% Māori , 1.9% Pacific peoples , 6.9% Asian , and 1.4% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas
320-416: A railway line from Morrinsville to Rotorua in 1879, and on 1 October 1884, the line from Hamilton to Morrinsville was opened. With construction progressing towards Paeroa and the line to Te Aroha opening on 1 March 1886, the town's population was listed as 633 people. With further expansion of the railway towards Thames and Tauranga , alongside extensive drainage of swamp land to the south and west of
360-467: A roll of 30. St Joseph's Catholic School is a state integrated Catholic primary school, with a roll of 188. All these schools are co-educational. Rolls are as of August 2024. Morrinsville is one of three towns, along with Te Aroha and Matamata , that serves one of New Zealand's most prosperous dairy farming areas. Dairy processing has been a notable industry in Morrinsville, most notably through
400-585: Is a list of towns in New Zealand . The term " town" has no current statutory meaning in New Zealand , the few "Town Districts" having been abolished in 1989 or earlier. The list includes most urban areas in New Zealand . Those deemed urban areas by Statistics New Zealand (under either the NZSCA92 or SSGA18 standard) are marked with an asterisk. Isolated towns, such as Ashburton and Levin , are usually parts of
440-417: Is not always available. During the late 1920s a company was formed to develop the flax industry on the extensive low-lying areas west of Morrinsville. Several thousand acres were acquired for the planting and milling of New Zealand flax (Phormium tenax) , but prevailing economic conditions forced the early abandonment of the project. Most of this land has reverted to dairy farming or fat-lamb production, and
SECTION 10
#1732844779278480-400: Is the town's state secondary school, with a roll of 729. Morrinsville Intermediate is the state intermediate school, with a roll of 341. The town has two state primary schools for Year 1 to 6 students: Morrinsville School, with a roll of 224; and David Street School, with a roll of 515; A third primary school, Motumaoho School , is located south-west of the town on State Highway 26; it has
520-534: The 2013 census . Some of the increase between the 2013 and 2018 census was due to Statistics New Zealand starting to add ethnicity data from other sources (previous censuses, administrative data, and imputation) to the census data to reduce the number of non-responses. The median age of Pasifika New Zealanders was 24.9 years, compared to 38.1 years for all New Zealanders; 136,077 people (30.4%) were aged under 15 years, 123,828 (28.0%) were 15 to 29, 156,534 (35.4%) were 30 to 64, and 26,193 (5.9%) were 65 or older. At
560-464: The Kaikōura district had the lowest concentration at 1.0%, with the neighbouring Hurunui district having the second-lowest concentration at 1.3%. According to responses to the 2018 census, 91.6% of Pacific Peoples spoke English, and 37.8% spoke two languages. At the 2018 census, 59.4% of Pasifika reported belonging to a single ethnic group. The largest Pacific Peoples ethnic groups – immigrants from
600-598: The National Party ), and by Winnie Laban in 1999. In 2008, Field left the Labour Party and formed the New Zealand Pacific Party , a short-lived political party aimed at representing conservative Christian Pasifika communities. For the 2008 New Zealand general election , Samoan-born Sam Lotu-Iiga was elected as MP for Maungakiekie , and was joined by Labour list MPs William Sio and Carmel Sepuloni , who
640-787: The Piako River to the east and the Waitakaruru Stream to the south. Prior to European settlement of New Zealand, the hills around present-day Morrinsville were occupied by the Ngati Werewere Māori people of the Ngati Haua Iwi , and the site of the present-day town was on or near to an old Māori route between the upper Waihou-Piako basin and the Ngāruawāhia area. Following European settlement, some early European traders are believed to have traversed this route prior to 1834 when
680-475: The 1970s, governments (both Labour and National ), migration officials, and special police squads targeted Pasifika illegal overstayers. Pacific Studies academic Dr Melani Anae describes the Dawn Raids as "the most blatantly racist attack on Pacific peoples by the New Zealand government in New Zealand's history". Immigrant Pasifika families settled in the inner city suburbs of Auckland and other major cities in
720-509: The 2018 census, there were 191,391 males and 190,254 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.006 males per female. The majority of Pasifika were born in New Zealand: 66.4% at the 2018 census, up from 62.3% at the 2013 census and 60.0% at the 2006 census. In terms of population distribution as at the 2023 census, 275,079 (62.1%) Pasifika New Zealanders lived in the Auckland region, 126,678 (28.6%) live in
760-561: The Government committed $ 734,311 from the Provincial Growth Fund to upgrade both marae and 3 other Ngāti Hauā marae, creating 7 jobs. Morrinsville covers 10.28 km (3.97 sq mi) and had an estimated population of 9,710 as of June 2024, with a population density of 945 people per km. Before the 2023 census, the town had a smaller boundary, covering 7.78 km (3.00 sq mi). Using that boundary, Morrinsville had
800-610: The Jolly Cripple Hotel and general store and donated land for a school. Morrin hired Irish navvies from the gold fields to dig a network of ditches to drain the land, enabling it to be used for agriculture. In 1882 Morrin surveyed the land for the site of the town proper, and deposited plans for ten streets: Anderson, Hamilton, Studholme, Moorhouse, Lorne, Canada, Cureton, Somerville, Thames and Thorpe (the first and last three streets being named after family members). The Thames Valley and Rotorua Railway Company began construction of
840-594: The Kuranui No.1 Block from the local Māori and founded the Lockerbie Estate, which Morrin named after the Scottish town from which his father had emigrated. In May 1874, Morrin purchased two further blocks, Motumaoho No.1 and No.2, and his estate then totaled over 30,000 acres (12,000 hectares). The fledgling village was to be the service centre for Morrin's Lockerbie Estate and he built a blacksmith's shop, manager's house,
SECTION 20
#1732844779278880-632: The Morrinsville Dairy Company since 1922. The dairy company retained the Scottish link through prominently using the name Lockerbie. Today, after a series of mergers, the dairy factory is now operated by the Fonterra Dairy Co-operative. The factory processes 1.2 million litres of milk per day during the peak of the milk production season, producing milk powders, cream, butter and canned butter for tropical countries where refrigeration
920-609: The North Island outside the Auckland region, and 40,845 (9.2%) live in the South Island. The Māngere-Ōtāhuhu local board area of Auckland had a majority Pasifika population at 60.4%, with the next highest concentrations in the nearby Ōtara-Papatoetoe local board area (48.7%) and Manurewa local board area (39.9%). Porirua City had the highest concentration of Pacific people outside of Auckland at 26.5%. The lowest concentrations of Pasifika New Zealanders are in northern Canterbury :
960-510: The Rev. J. Morgan travelled up the Piako River to near the future town site and crossed west to Horotiu, near Ngāruawāhia. First recorded contact with European settlers occurred around 1850, with John Johnson trading with the Māori from 1852. The 1860s saw an influx of European settlers to the area between Te Aroha and Matamata , and on 13 December 1873 a settler from Auckland , Thomas Morrin, purchased
1000-681: The country's population, with the majority residing in Auckland . Prior to the Second World War Pasifika in New Zealand numbered only a few hundred. Wide-scale Pasifika migration to New Zealand began in the 1950s and 1960s, typically from countries associated with the Commonwealth and the Realm of New Zealand , including Western Samoa (modern-day Samoa), the Cook Islands and Niue . In
1040-504: The country, when middle-class Pākehā families were tending to move outwards to newer, more distant suburbs. Pasifika immigrants also tended to replace Urban Māori in central suburbs. By the mid-1970s, gentrification became an issue for Pasifika communities in Auckland. The cheap housing found in Ponsonby and other inner city Auckland suburbs were attractive to Pākehā young professionals, especially socially liberal families searching for
1080-491: The east, providing access to the provincial town of Matamata to the south. A Rotorua to Auckland bus runs via Morrinsville once a day each way, provided by InterCity , but a service between Hamilton and Coromandel via Paeroa ended in 2017, and those by nakedbus , which ran daily between Hamilton and Whitianga in 2018. Local bus services to Morrinsville are provided by the Waikato Regional Council with
1120-644: The largest cohort of Pasifika MPs entering parliament: Terisa Ngobi , Barbara Edmonds , Tangi Utikere , Neru Leavasa for the Labour Party, and the first Pasifika MP from the Green Party , Teanau Tuiono . 2023 saw Efeso Collins , formerly a member of the Auckland Council , joining as a member of the Green Party. The Auckland Council has had three Pasifika councillors since its founding in 2010: Alf Filipaina and former National MP Arthur Anae representing
1160-514: The last trains ran on 7 October 2001. Passenger traffic reached a peak in 1944, as shown in this table and the graph - Morrinsville is located on State Highway 26 (SH26) , running from Hamilton in the west to the Firth of Thames and the Coromandel Peninsula via Mangatarata in the north east. From the town centre it is approximately 7.5 km to the junction of State Highway 27 (SH27) in
1200-434: The original English grasses used by earlier settlers have been replaced with higher producing Italian ryegrass and nitrogen-fixing white clover. During the town's formative years the area also contained a number of commercial sawmills, most of which closed by the 1930s as land was cleared for farming. Meadow Mushrooms, one of Morrinsville's biggest employers, ceased its local operations and relocated to Canterbury in 2010, with
1240-493: The station with the town from the end of Canada Street. The station was described as consisting of "two asphalt passenger platforms, and the station buildings contain a ladies' waiting room, a large general waiting room, a post office lobby with post and telegraph offices, a ticket office, and offices for the Inspector of Permanent Way. There are also large goods and engine sheds, and cattle loading yards. Five workmen's cottages adjoin
Morrinsville - Misplaced Pages Continue
1280-616: The station, and the Bank of New Zealand Estates Company has a large building connected with the siding for seed-cleaning and storage purposes." The station was moved about 1 ⁄ 4 mile (0.40 km) towards Hamilton in 1923. The original station building was demolished in 1984 and a smaller building was erected approximately 300 metres to the west off Marshall Street, which is still used by KiwiRail for freight services. Passenger services are no longer provided to or from Morrinsville Railway Station. The Thames Branch closed on 28 June 1991 and
1320-420: The subsequent loss of around 160 jobs. As a service centre for the local dairy industry, many of Morrinsville's businesses are geared towards supporting this industry and associated rural activities, and today the town is still home to large stockyards and regular livestock markets. There is also a chemical plant producing hydrogen peroxide, fertiliser and other agri-nutrients located on the southern outskirts of
1360-525: The town making available large areas for dairy farming, Morrinsville was declared a town district in 1908 and in 1921 was constituted as a borough. Morrinsville has two marae : Kai a Te Mata and its meeting house Wairere, and Rukumoana or Top Pā and its meeting house Werewere. Both marae are affiliated with the Ngāti Hauā iwi and its Ngāti Werewere hapū, and with the Waikato Tainui iwi. In October 2020,
1400-591: The town. Historically, Morrinsville was the railway junction of the Auckland–Thames and Auckland–Rotorua lines, which subsequently became the Thames Branch and the East Coast Main Trunk Railway ( Tauranga ) lines. Morrinsville Railway Station was opened on 1 October 1884, to the east off Studholme Street, at the junction of the two lines. A footbridge over the track was opened in 1913, connecting
1440-736: The track subsequently lifted, although in 2004 a short shunt line – the Waitoa Industrial Line – reopened to facilitate freight trains for the Waitoa Dairy Factory. The East Coast Main Trunk Railway provided passenger services between Auckland and Rotorua – the Geyserland Express – and Auckland and Tauranga - the Kaimai Express ; however, in 2001 it was announced that these services were too uneconomic to continue, and
1480-563: Was 12.7, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 52.6% had no religion, 34.5% were Christian , 0.9% had Māori religious beliefs , 0.9% were Hindu , 0.3% were Muslim , 1.5% were Buddhist and 2.2% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 747 (12.0%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 1,737 (27.9%) people had no formal qualifications. 924 people (14.8%) earned over $ 70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15
1520-535: Was first used by government agencies in New Zealand in the 1980s to describe all migrants from the Pacific islands and their descendants. There were 442,632 people identifying as being part of the Pacific Peoples ethnic group at the 2023 New Zealand census , making up 8.9% of New Zealand's population. This is an increase of 60,990 people (16.0%) since the 2018 census , and an increase of 146,691 people (49.6%) since
1560-423: Was that 3,027 (48.6%) people were employed full-time, 807 (13.0%) were part-time, and 198 (3.2%) were unemployed. The Morrinsville East and West areas (2018 boundaries) had these census figures - Apart from Morrinsville, the largest number of commuters go to Waihou from Morrinsville East and Tahuroa from West. In 2018 13.8% of the population of Morrinsville East and 25.1% of West were Māori. Morrinsville College
1600-606: Was the first MP of Tongan heritage. In 2010, Kris Faafoi entered parliament by winning the 2010 Mana by-election , becoming the first MP of Tokelauan descent. In 2011, Alfred Ngaro became the first MP of Cook Island descent by winning the Maungakiekie electorate. Further Pasifika MPs entered parliament in the 2010s: Asenati Taylor for New Zealand First (2011), Christchurch East MP Poto Williams (2013), Manukau East MP Jenny Salesa (2014) and Anahila Kanongata'a-Suisuiki (2017). The 2020 New Zealand general election saw
#277722