High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Waitaki is the name of two seats in the New Zealand House of Representatives, both based around North Otago and South Canterbury towns on the East Coast of the South Island.Historically, the name referred to an electorate that was created three times: in 1871 to 1946; in 1957 to 1969 and in 1978 to 1996. With the advent of Mixed Member Proportional voting in 1996 and the resulting reduction in the number of constituencies, the seat was split in half; the town of Oamaru was pulled into the new Otago seat and the balance was transferred into the new Aoraki electorate.