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Story: Constitution

Last meeting of the Legislative Council, 1950

Audio file

This photograph records the last meeting of the Legislative Council, the upper house of the New Zealand Parliament, on 1 December 1950. It was abolished by an act of Parliament earlier that year. Listen to press-gallery reporter Charles Wheeler describe the Legislative Chamber's role and how it came to be abolished – which he says was a 'constitutional revolution'.

Using this item

Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Reference: 32809

Image: Alexander Turnbull Library, 1/2-019120-F

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How to cite this page

Matthew Palmer, Constitution – Representative democracy and Parliament, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/speech/35917/last-meeting-of-the-legislative-council-1950 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Matthew Palmer, published 7 May 2012.