Pukekohe

Pukekohe is a town in the Auckland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located at the southern edge of the Auckland Region, between the southern shore of the Manukau Harbour and the mouth of the Waikato River. The hills of Pukekohe and nearby Bombay Hills form the natural southern limit of the Auckland region. Pukekohe is located within the political boundaries of the Auckland Council, following the abolition of the Franklin District Council on 1 November 2010.

With a population of Pukekohe is the 24th largest urban area in New Zealand, and the third largest in the Auckland Region behind Auckland itself and Hibiscus Coast.

Pukekohe is a rural service town for the area formerly known as the Franklin District. Its population is mainly of European descent, with significant Māori and ethnic Indian and East Asian communities. There are also a notable number of people of South African and Dutch descent. The fertile volcanic soil and warm moist climate supports a large horticultural and dairy farming industry; the Pukekohe Long Keeper onion is well known internationally.

Geology
Pukekohe and the surrounding areas are a section of the South Auckland volcanic field, which erupted between 550,000 and 1,600,000 years ago.

Māori history
Tāmaki Māori peoples settled the wider area in the 13th or 14th centuries. The traditional Māori name for Pukekohe Hill, Pukekohekohe ("Hill of Kohekohe") refers to Dysoxylum spectabile, also known as the New Zealand mahogany tree, which used to be a prominent part of the native bush on in the area. The area was important to Waiohua tribes including Ngāti Tamaoho, Ngāti Te Ata and Te Ākitai, due to the strategic views from the hill and the high quality soil. The northern slopes of the hill were home to some of the largest croplands (māra kai) for the Tāmaki Māori people who settled here.

Much of the population around Pukekohe migrated south during the Musket Wars in the 1820s due to the threat from Ngāpuhi and other northern tribes, gradually returning from the mid-1830s.

In modern times, the two main iwi of the area are Ngāti Tamaoho and Ngāti Te Ata. Waikato Tainui has a strong presence.

European settlement and the New Zealand Wars
On 7 December 1843, the New Zealand Crown purchased sections of the Franklin District including Pukekohe from local Māori for the sum of £150 and several items including 181 blankets, two tea kettles, a horse brush, six silk handkerchiefs, a water pot, 13 axes, two saucepans, a box of pipes and 788 pounds of tobacco. In 1853, the Crown established Te Awa nui o Taikehu, a reserve the Crown created for Te Ākitai Waiohua during land sales around modern-day Pukekohe. By 1856, European settlements had been well established in the north and western reaches of Pukekohe. On 9 July 1863, due to fears of the Māori King Movement, Governor George Grey proclaimed that all Māori living to the South of Auckland needed to swear loyalty to the Queen and give up their weapons. Most people refused due to strong links to Tainui, leaving for the south before the Government's Invasion of the Waikato. Small numbers of people remained, in order to tend to their farms and for ahi kā (land rights through continued occupation).

A major battle of the Waikato War was fought at Pukekohe East on 14 September 1863. The battle involved 11 armed Pākehā (European New Zealanders) settlers, who were converting the Pukekohe East church into a redoubt and approximately 200–300 Māori, mainly from the Waikato area. Although surprised and severely outnumbered, the settlers held off the Kīngitanga fighters until troops from the 18th Royal Irish Regiment arrived. No settlers were killed or injured while 30 Māori were killed with an unknown number wounded. 6 bodies were found near the church and 24 were later found buried in the bush. The church still exists today and the bullet holes are still visible. According to Te Huia Raureti, tribes that took part in the raid came from Ngāti Maniapoto, some other upper Waikato tribes, and Ngāti Pou of lower Waikato. On the even of the raid on Pukekohe East, a war council had ordered members of the taua (war party) to avoid looting the property of settlers. Despite this order, future Ngāti Maniapoto chief Wahanui Huatare and several other members raided a settler's house. This angered other members of the war party, who regarded it as a bad omen. Nearly the entire Pukekohe area was abandoned apart from military outposts. Isolated attacks occurred as late as November 1863 after the Battle of Rangiriri.

The New Zealand Government confiscated large tracts of land in the aftermath of the invasion in 1865, after which the town of Pukekohe was established, on the northern slopes of its namesake, Pukekohe Hill. In January 1865, the New Zealand Government's Executive Council designated Pukekohe as one of the eight districts in the Waikato region to be confiscated, which amounted to a total of 577,590 acres. On 26 April 1865, the Native Land Court awarded £5,444 in compensation to the Ngatipari tribe, a branch of the Ākitai people, for a block of land known as the "Pukekohe Reserve" or "Pukekohe bloc," which had been confiscated during the Waikato War. The Ngatipari claimants successfully argued that they had not opposed the Crown during the Waikato War and established their claim to the land on the basis of cultivation and ancestral burial grounds. In late 1865, several chiefs sought to have various urupā (burial sites) at Pukekohe and other locations including Patumāhoe, Pōkeno, and Maketū returned to them. The New Zealand Government objected when it emerged that the total area might exceed 200 acres and insisted that the exact locations of graves should be identified and only smaller plots returned to Māori. This case was subsequently referred to the Land Compensation Court.

Due to the clearing of dense bush in the Pukekohe area, large areas of fertile, volcanic land became available for growing crops. While onions and potatoes were first grown in Pukekohe as early as the 1850s, large-scale market growing of vegetables did not begin until 1870 in nearby Patumahoe. After horticulturalist John Bilkey planted a successful crop of onions on Pukekohe Hill in 1892, local farmers began cultivating onion patches. The expansion of roads and railway infrastructure during the late 19th century led to the development of market gardens in Pukekohe and the nearby Bombay Hills. In addition to onions and potatoes, other vegetable produce included squash, tomatoes, silverbeet, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflowers, legumes and root vegetables. By 1875, Pukekohe was connected to Auckland by rail with the extension of railway lines to Mercer. People who had lived in Te Awa nui o Taikehu returned to the area in the 1870s, often working as labourers in the market gardens on the former lands of the reserve.

20th century
On 10 June 1905, Pukekohe became a town district. By 1907, Pukekohe's town centre consisted of one main street with numerous stores and workshops. Following the completion of the North Island Main Trunk railway line in 1907, Pukekohe's market gardens became a major supplier of agricultural produce for several North Island major population centres including Auckland and Wellington. Due to Auckland's growing population, Pukekohe became an important market gardening area for the Auckland Region. On 1 April 1912, Pukekohe became a borough with its own elected local council. Due to Auckland's growing population during the 19th and 20th centuries, Pukekohe became an important market gardening area for the Auckland Region. Mitha Unka, the first Indian settler, arrived in Pukekohe in 1918, and an Indian community developed in the town during the 1930s and 1940s.

In response to the growing presence of Chinese and Indian market growers in Pukekohe, the White New Zealand League was founded in Pukekohe in December 1925 to advance the economic and social interests of European New Zealanders. Its 15 founding members lived in Pukekohe and included Deputy Mayor George Parvin. As a White supremacist group, the League exploited local European growers' fear of economic competition with Asian immigrants and oppose Asian immigration. The League attracted the support of several New Zealand Members of Parliament, 160 local government bodies and newspaper editors including Franklin District MP Ewen McLennan, Thames MP Thomas William Rhodes, the Franklin County Council, the Pukekohe Borough Council, and the Pukekohe Chamber of Commerce. In January 1926, the Pukekohe Borough Council voted to support the League's goals. Mayor John Routly urged European residents not to lease land to Asians. In 1932, 1,400 Pukekohe locals petitioned the New Zealand Parliament to repatriate local Chinese and Indians, whom they claimed were taking jobs from Europeans and Māori. Parliament dismissed the petition in 1934 on the grounds that the petition's allegations had not been proved. The League dissolved in 1937 during the Great Depression.

During the early 20th century, several landless Māori from the Waikato migrated to Pukekohe to work in the township's market gardens as itinerant agricultural workers. These Māori came from the Ngatipari, Ākitai, and Ngāpuhi iwi (tribes). Since the Māori in Pukekohe had no ancestral ties to the land, they took the symbolic title of rootless Māori and became known as Nga Hau E Wha (People of the Four Winds). Many of these Māori workers and their families lived in substandard accommodation including shacks and sheds with no sanitation or plumbing. These contributed to an array of health problems and diseases among Pukekohe's Māori community. According to University of Auckland medical sociologist Robert Bartholomew, 73% (237) of all Māori deaths aged 14 years and under between 1925 and 1961 were caused by preventable conditions linked to poverty and poor housing such as bronchitis, diphtheria, dysentry, gastroenteritis, malnutrition, measles, pneumonia, tuberculosis, and whooping cough.

Between the 1930s and early 1960s, the Pukekohe Borough Council, the Franklin District Council, the Pukekohe Growers Association, and local leaders such as Deputy Mayor Parvin and Mayor Max Grierson blocked attempts by the New Zealand Government and Māori community groups such as the Pukekohe Māori Women's Club to establish public housing for Māori residents. At the time, many European residents were unwilling to live with Māori neighbours while horticultural producers regarded their Māori tenants as a source of cheap labour. Following a measles outbreak in 1938 that ultimately killed 29 Māori children and infants, Māori tenants were temporarily moved into tents. During the Second World War, Māori tenants were housed in army huts as a temporary substitute for shacks and sheds. By the early 1950s, these army huts had deteriorated. In 1951, Māori Affairs Department secured a section of land known as the "Kennelly Block" in North Pukekohe to build houses for Māori tenants. By 1961, 65 Māori homes had been built in the Kennelly Block. In 1961, the Franklin District Council unsuccessfully attempted to restrict Māori housing to North Pukekohe but were blocked by the-then Minister of Māori Affairs Ralph Hanan.

In addition to substandard housing, Pukekohe's Māori population experienced discrimination and segregation in accessing education, health services, public toilets, transportation, and local businesses between the 1920s and early 1960s. Several pubs, barbers, and restaurants either refused to serve Māori or maintained separate facilities for Europeans and non-Whites including Māori. Local businesses and banks were unwilling to loan to Māori patrons. Māori riding buses were expected to give up their seats for European customers. The Strand cinema maintained separate seating areas for Māori patrons.

During the 1940s and 1950s, Pukekohe Primary School maintained segregated toilets and sports teams for European and Māori students. Māori students were only allowed to use the school's swimming pool on Friday before the water was renewed. In 1952, a segregated Māori-only school called Pukekohe Māori School was established to cate for the Māori community. The school was later revamped in 1965 as the interracial Pukekohe Hill School. According to Bartholomew, discrimination against Māori residents was done on the pretext of health and alleged poor behavior since New Zealand did not have legislation and local by-laws codifying racial segregation and discrimination.

21st century
In 2009, several Pukekohe community leaders, school board members, and educators established a community group called "Te Huarahi" to help schools and families improve Māori educational outcomes in Pukekohe and improve knowledge of the Treaty of Waitangi. In 2009, Te Huarahi launched a programme to improve the teaching of the Māori language in Pukekohe and called for local leaders to acknowledge that Pukekohe Māori had experienced racism including corporal punishment for speaking their native language.

In 2018, the New Zealand Government settled a treaty land claim with Ngāti Tamaoho, whose area includes Pukekohe. The Government also acknowledged that Ngāti Tamaoho had experienced social and economic marginalisation in New Zealand society including "discrimination and segregation at a state-run school in Pukekohe." That same year, Pukekohe Valley School proposed an action plan to gather local Māori history and stories while acknowledging local unease about the town's history of racism.

Marae
Ngā Hau e Whā Marae is located in the Pukekohe area. It is the tribal meeting grounds of Ngāti Tamaoho and the Waikato Tainui hapū of Ngāi Tai and Ngāti Tamaoho.

Indian community centres
In 1953, the Nehru Hall was constructed in Pukekohe for the Indian committee, and was the first Indian community hall to be built in New Zealand. The hall was too small to host large-scale events such as Indian weddings, which instead were held at the Pukekohe War Memorial Town Hall. In response to the community needing a larger space, the PIA Events Centre was opened by the Pukekohe Indian Association in 1999.

Demographics
Pukekohe covers 31.03 km2 and had an estimated population of as of  with a population density of  people per km2.

Before the 2023 census, the town had a larger boundary, covering 32.50 km2. Using that boundary, Pukekohe had a population of 23,904 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 3,378 people (16.5%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 6,636 people (38.4%) since the 2006 census. There were 8,031 households, comprising 11,532 males and 12,366 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.93 males per female, with 5,391 people (22.6%) aged under 15 years, 4,605 (19.3%) aged 15 to 29, 9,951 (41.6%) aged 30 to 64, and 3,960 (16.6%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 70.9% European/Pākehā, 19.8% Māori, 9.0% Pacific peoples, 12.2% Asian, and 2.2% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.

The percentage of people born overseas was 24.3, compared with 27.1% nationally.

Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 46.3% had no religion, 38.0% were Christian, 1.6% had Māori religious beliefs, 3.0% were Hindu, 1.0% were Muslim, 0.5% were Buddhist and 3.0% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 2,973 (16.1%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 3,876 (20.9%) people had no formal qualifications. 3,411 people (18.4%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 9,291 (50.2%) people were employed full-time, 2,439 (13.2%) were part-time, and 792 (4.3%) were unemployed.

Local government
Pukekohe had a local government just like other suburbs of Auckland at that time. The local government was called Pukekohe Borough Council, which started in 1912 and merged into Franklin District Council in 1989, eventually being amalgamated into Auckland Council in November 2010.

The mayors of Pukekohe Borough Council were:
 * 1912–1912 William Dunn
 * 1912–1915 C. K. Lawrie
 * 1915–1919 Henry Greathead Rex Mason
 * 1919–1921 C. K. Lawrie
 * 1921–1935 John Routly
 * 1935–1938 C. K. Lawrie
 * 1938–1941 John Routly
 * 1941–1950 Maxwell Rae Grierson
 * 1950–1963 S. C. Childs
 * 1963–1974 C. W. J. Lawrie
 * 1974–1989 Max R. Short

Since 2010, the Franklin Local Board represents local government in the area. The local board is one of 21 local boards across Auckland. The current Councillor is Andy Baker. Pukekohe lies in the Port Waikato general electorate, currently represented by Andrew Bayly of the National Party. It is part of the Hauraki-Waikato Māori electorate, currently represented by Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke of Te Pāti Māori.

Education
Pukekohe High School is a secondary school  (years 9–13) with a roll of. The school opened in 1921 as Pukekohe Technical High School, and was renamed to Pukekohe High School in 1948.

Pukekohe Intermediate School is an intermediate school (years 7–8) with a roll of. The school opened in 1966

Pukekohe East School, Pukekohe Hill School and Valley School are contributing primary schools  (years 1–6) with rolls of ,  and   students, respectively. Pukekohe East School opened in 1880. Pukekohe Maori School opened in 1952 and was renamed to Pukekohe Hill School in 1966. Valley School opened in 1966.

Pukekohe North School is a full primary school (years 1–8) with a roll of. 79 percent of the roll are of Māori heritage, and some classes are taught in the Māori language. The school opened in 1957, although the official opening was in 1958.

KingsGate School and St Joseph's School are state integrated full primary schools (years 1–8) with rolls of and  students, respectively. KingsGate is an interdenominational Christian school. It opened in 1996. St Joseph's is a Catholic school which opened in 1923.

Parkside School is a special school with a roll of. It provides education for students with special needs up to the age of 21.

Tamaoho School is a contributing primary school which opened in 2021.

All these schools are coeducational. Rolls are as of

Sports
Pukekohe Park Raceway is a motorsports and horse-racing facility. Opened in 1963, this circuit is famous for having hosted the New Zealand Grand Prix 29 times between 1963 and 2000, as well as the V8 International (a round of the V8 Supercars championship) between 2001 and 2007. They returned in 2013-2019 after the series had a short-lived moved to a street race circuit in Hamilton for five years. The last and final race was held in 2022, Due to the track being closed by the Auckland Racing Club.

Pukekohe RFC represent the town in rugby union, their number 1 field is dubbed the 'Onion Patch'. The Counties Manukau Rugby Football Union are based in Pukekohe and play home matches at Navigation Homes Stadium. They have a men and womens premier team in each national championship. The "Steelers" in the mens competition and the "Heat" in the womens competition. The Mens team won the 2st divison competition in 1979 and have won the second division competition twice.

Pukekohe is home to Pukekohe AFC who are members of the Northern Region Football. Bledisloe Park Sports Centre (overlooking Bledisloe Park grounds) is home to both Pukekohe AFC and Pukekohe Metro Cricket Club. The sports centre is managed by the Bledisloe Park Society Committee.

Auckland Metropolitan Clay Target Club, is a clay target shooting club located just outside Pukekohe, offering recreational and competitive target shooting.

Puni Mountain Bike Track, located at Puni Memorial Park, has roughly 6–7 km of single-track. Sunset Coast BMX and Puni Rugby Club are also located at Puni Memorial Park.

From 2021 The New Zealand National Basketball League Franklin Bulls took to the court in Pukekohe. They play their home games at the Franklin Pool and Leisure Centre, also known as 'The Stockyard'.

The town has a golf club, tennis club, squash club and a hot rod club.

Media
Based on King St, Pukekohe, Rural Living is a monthly, lifestyle magazine distributed throughout the Franklin region and accessible online. The magazine's publisher, Times Media, also produces annual magazines, Design & Build Franklin and Settling In, produced by locals for locals.

Franklin County News is the local newspaper distributed weekly to homes in Pukekohe and surrounding towns, including Waiuku and Tuakau.

The Post Newspaper issues almost 22,000 copies weekly on a Tuesday within Franklin and Tuakau and is based in Waiuku.

In 2015, the online events calendar and photo news Franklin Life NZ was launched.

In 2013, the film Mt. Zion was released in New Zealand, portraying Māori life in 1970s Pukekohe.

Transport
Pukekohe railway station is on the North Island Main Trunk Railway and is the southernmost station of the Auckland rail network, at the end of the Southern Line. The portion of the line between Papakura and Pukekohe is currently closed for electrification until early 2025 after which electric trains will run directly to Pukekohe from the Auckland CBD. A rail replacement bus is currently running between Papakura and Pukekohe while the line is closed. In July 2017, it was announced that the purchase of battery-powered electric trains had been "agreed in principle" by Auckland Council and that an all-electric service would be operational in 2019 (provisionally, subject to conditions), four years after completion of the rest of the region's electrified rail network. However, the purchase of battery-powered trains did not proceed. In 2020, the government announced funding to extend electrification from Papakura to Pukekohe.

There are several loop bus services serving central Pukekohe and also connecting to the western and southern townships of Patumahoe, Waiuku, Tuakau and Port Waikato. There are no bus services north of the town (beyond Paerata) and none at all serving travel to the east.

Notable people

 * Waka Nathan, Former All Black
 * Bill Birch, MP
 * Joeli Vidiri, Former All Black, Counties Steelers and Auckland Blues representative
 * Possum Bourne, Former World Rally Championship driver with Suburu
 * Mark Ball, Mayor
 * Eric Murray, Double Olympic Gold Medalist (London 2012, Rio 2016), 8 time World Champion in Rowing, attended Pukekohe high school
 * Leslie Comrie, Astronomer and pioneer in mechanical computation
 * Andy Dalton, Former All Blacks captain
 * Simon Doull, New Zealand Blackcaps cricket representative and radio personality
 * Peter Fa'afiu, diplomat, global director of Amnesty International
 * A. J. Hackett, OMNZ and entrepreneur who popularised bungee jumping
 * Malcolm Hood, All Black Physiotherapist
 * Madonna Harris, Resident and sportswoman
 * Liam Lawson, F2 Racing Driver raised in Pukekohe
 * Jonah Lomu, All Black, Born in Pukekohe, educated at Wesley College
 * Rex Mason, Mayor and MP
 * Mick Peck, Award-winning magician and entertainer
 * Carl Ruiterman, Racing driver
 * Malietoa Tanumafili II, Samoan Head of State—educated at Wesley College
 * Allan Wilson, molecular biologist—grew up in the area