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Story: Parliament

Wigs and dreadlocks

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Wigs and dreadlocks

Major reforms of Parliament from the 1980s were accompanied by smaller changes. When the Labour Party came to power again in 1999, the new speaker, Jonathan Hunt, no longer wore the traditional wig. In this 2001 cartoon he sports dreadlocks – a humorous reference to his somewhat unlikely alliance with the dreadlocked Green MP Nandor Tanczos over the drinking habits of MPs.

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Parliamentary Services

by Jim Hubbard

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How to cite this page

John E. Martin, Parliament – Reform, 1980s onwards, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/cartoon/33712/wigs-and-dreadlocks (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by John E. Martin, published 23 May 2012, updated 1 February 2015.