Waiariki is a culturally rich and geographically diverse Māori electorate centered on the Bay of Plenty and the Central North Island. It encompasses the major urban centres of Tauranga, Rotorua, Whakatāne, and Taupō, while extending into the tribal heartlands of Te Arawa, Mataatua, and Ngāti Tūwharetoa. The electorate is an economic powerhouse for the Māori economy, driven by significant assets in forestry, geothermal energy, tourism, and horticulture—particularly the booming kiwifruit industry. Politically, Waiariki has become the central stronghold for Te Pāti Māori. It was the seat that brought the party back from political oblivion in 2020 when Rawiri Waititi unseated Labour’s Tāmaki Coffey. Since then, it has served as the party's primary base of operations. Waititi, now the party co-leader, retained the seat with a commanding majority in the 2023 general election, cementing the electorate's reputation as a bastion of independent Māori political voice. In the 2025 boundary review the Waiariki electorate’s boundaries were unchanged from the 2020 review.