Oaonui

Oaonui is a community in the west of Taranaki, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 45, north of Ōpunake.

The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "place of many clouds" for Ōaonui.

Demographics

Oaonui locality covers . The locality is part of the larger Parihaka statistical area.

Oaonui had a population of 462 in the 2023 New Zealand census, an increase of 15 people (3.4%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 24 people (5.5%) since the 2013 census. There were 246 males, 213 females, and 3 people of other genders in 174 dwellings. 1.9% of people identified as LGBTIQ+. There were 108 people (23.4%) aged under 15 years, 96 (20.8%) aged 15 to 29, 213 (46.1%) aged 30 to 64, and 45 (9.7%) aged 65 or older.

People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 83.1% European (Pākehā), 31.2% Māori, 1.3% Pasifika, 3.9% Asian, and 1.3% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English was spoken by 98.1%, Māori by 6.5%, and other languages by 1.9%. No language could be spoken by 1.9% (e.g. too young to talk). New Zealand Sign Language was known by 0.6%. The percentage of people born overseas was 7.1, compared with 28.8% nationally.

Religious affiliations were 29.2% Christian, 0.6% Hindu, 1.3% Māori religious beliefs, and 0.6% other religions. People who answered that they had no religion were 55.2%, and 12.3% of people did not answer the census question.

Of those at least 15 years old, 33 (9.3%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 198 (55.9%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 114 (32.2%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. 42 people (11.9%) earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was 189 (53.4%) full-time, 54 (15.3%) part-time, and 12 (3.4%) unemployed.

Marae

Te Pōtaka Marae and Te Pōtaka meeting house are located in the Oaonui area. The marae is a meeting ground for the Taranaki hapū of Ngāti Haupoto, Ngāti Tara and Ngāti Tuhekerangi.

In October 2020, the Government committed $105,342 from the Provincial Growth Fund to upgrade the marae, creating 8 jobs.

References