New Zealand Constitution Act 1846

New Zealand Constitution Act 1846
Act of Parliament
	Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to make further Provision for the Government of the New Zealand Islands.
Citation	9 & 10 Vict. c. 103
Dates
Royal assent	28 August 1846
Other legislation
Amended by	Statute Law Revision Act 1875
Repealed by	Statute Law Revision Act 1891
Relates to	New Zealand Constitution Act 1852
Status: Repealed

Last updated October 26, 2024

The New Zealand Constitution Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vict. c. 103) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom intended to grant self-government to the Colony of New Zealand, but it was never fully implemented. The Act's long title was An Act to make further Provision for the Government of the New Zealand Islands, and it received the royal assent on 28 August 1846.

Background

The Charter of 1840

Prior to the act, the basic document setting out the governance of New Zealand since the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi was the Charter of 1840, which specified:^[1]

The three principal islands of New Zealand were to be known as New Ulster, New Munster, and New Leinster.
The Governor was to summon an Executive Council to advise and assist him. This council comprised the Colonial Secretary, the Attorney-General, and the Treasurer.
A Legislative Council of seven people – the Governor, the members of the Executive Council, and three nominated justices of the peace – was to make laws and ordinances "for the peace, order, and good government" of the colony.

The Executive and Legislative Councils met infrequently during the governorships of William Hobson and his successors, Willoughby Shortland (as Administrator), Robert FitzRoy and Sir George Grey. Throughout the Crown colony period each governor held, in the name of the Crown, complete control over the executive and legislative functions of government.

Settler demands for representative government

There was a growing agitation from the settlers for representative government. This was particularly the case in Wellington which, as a New Zealand Company settlement, briefly had its own independent governing council, until Governor Hobson sent his Colonial Secretary, Willoughby Shortland, and some soldiers to Port Nicholson to end any challenge to British sovereignty (the colonists had set up a "colonial council", which Hobson described as a "republic", in March 1840 headed by William Wakefield).

The people of Auckland, then the capital, were less interested. Eventually, pressure led to the enactment in 1846 in London of an intricate constitution.

Effect

The Act provided for a three-tiered system of representative government:

Municipal corporations were to be created with the powers of English boroughs;
Two provinces were to be established with assemblies that would include a Governor, a nominated Legislative Council, and a House of Representatives elected by the mayor and councillors of the municipalities in the province;
A General Assembly for the whole colony consisting of a Governor-in-Chief, a nominated Legislative Council, and a House of Representatives appointed by the houses of the provinces from their own members.

The Act was intended to be implemented by a royal charter and royal instructions, issued on 23 December 1846.^[2]^[3]

Suspension

Governor of New Zealand George Grey argued that the Constitution Act would place the Māori majority under the political control of the settlers, and so undermine his efforts to protect Māori interests. In a dispatch to Earl Grey, Governor Grey stated that in implementing the Act, Her Majesty would not be giving the self-government that was intended, instead:

"...she will give to a small fraction of her subjects of one race the power of governing the large majority of her subjects of a different race... there is no reason to think that they would be satisfied with, and submit to, the rule of a minority"^[4]

In 1848 (just before Grey created two provinces, New Ulster and New Munster) the British Parliament passed the Government of New Zealand Act 1848 under which parts of the 1846 Act dealing with establishment of provincial assemblies and the General Assembly were not to come into force for another five years.

The Charter provisions relating to the Legislative Council for the whole colony continued and the Governor was authorised to establish Legislative Councils in each of the provinces. However, settler pressure for representative institutions and criticism of Grey intensified, and for the next four years the Governor pursued a course that gave little satisfaction to the settlers.

Early in 1848 he had appointed Major-General Pitt (he was followed by Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Henry Wynyard) as Lieutenant-Governor of New Ulster, and Edward John Eyre as Lieutenant-Governor of New Munster. Each had associated with him an Executive Council. Later in the same year Grey, through an Ordinance of the General Legislative Council, established nominated Legislative Councils in each province. The Provincial Council of New Ulster was never summoned. In 1851, under the authority of the 1846 Act, Grey made the town of Auckland a municipality, but this step did not relieve the pressure for a Legislative Council which would be representative of the whole province.

The Provincial Council of New Munster had only one legislative session – in 1849 – before it succumbed to the virulent attacks of the Wellington settlers. Grey, sensible to the pressures, inspired an ordinance of the General Legislative Council under which new Legislative Councils would be established in each province with two-thirds of their members elected on a generous franchise. Grey, however, proceeded to implement the ordinance with such deliberation that neither Council met before advice was received that the Parliament at Westminster had passed the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852.

Related Research Articles

The provinces of the Colony of New Zealand existed as a form of sub-national government. Initially established in 1846 when New Zealand was a Crown colony without responsible government, two provinces were first created. Each province had its own legislative council and governor. With the passing of the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 the provinces were recreated around the six planned settlements or "colonies". By 1873 the number of provinces had increased to nine, but they had become less isolated from each other and demands for centralised government arose. In 1875 the New Zealand Parliament decided to abolish the provincial governments, and they came to an end in November 1876. They were superseded by counties, which were later replaced by territorial authorities.

The New Zealand Parliament is the unicameral legislature of New Zealand, consisting of the Sovereign (King-in-Parliament) and the New Zealand House of Representatives. The King is usually represented by his governor-general. Before 1951, there was an upper chamber, the New Zealand Legislative Council. The New Zealand Parliament was established in 1854 and is one of the oldest continuously functioning legislatures in the world. It has met in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, since 1865 and in its current building since 1922.

The Executive Council of New Zealand is the full group of "responsible advisers" to the governor-general, who advise on state and constitutional affairs. All government ministers must be appointed as executive councillors before they are appointed as ministers; therefore all members of Cabinet are also executive councillors. The governor-general signs a warrant of appointment for each member of the Executive Council, and separate warrants for each ministerial portfolio.

Thomas Spencer Forsaith, JP, was a New Zealand politician and an Auckland draper. According to some historians, he was the country's second premier, although a more conventional view states that neither he nor his predecessor should properly be given that title.

The New Zealand Legislative Council was the upper house of the General Assembly of New Zealand between 1853 and 1951. An earlier arrangement of legislative councils for the colony and provinces existed from 1841 when New Zealand became a colony; it was reconstituted as the upper house of a bicameral legislature when New Zealand became self-governing in 1852, which came into effect in the following year.

New Munster was an early original European name for the South Island of New Zealand, given by the Governor of New Zealand, Captain William Hobson, in honour of Munster, the Irish province in which he was born.

The constitution of New Zealand is the sum of laws and principles that determine the political governance of New Zealand. Unlike many other nations, New Zealand has no single constitutional document. It is an uncodified constitution, sometimes referred to as an "unwritten constitution", although the New Zealand constitution is in fact an amalgamation of written and unwritten sources. The Constitution Act 1986 has a central role, alongside a collection of other statutes, orders in Council, letters patent, decisions of the courts, principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, and unwritten traditions and conventions. There is no technical difference between ordinary statutes and law considered "constitutional law"; no law is accorded higher status. In most cases the New Zealand Parliament can perform "constitutional reform" simply by passing acts of Parliament, and thus has the power to change or abolish elements of the constitution. There are some exceptions to this though – the Electoral Act 1993 requires certain provisions can only be amended following a referendum.

The governor-general of New Zealand is the representative of the monarch of New Zealand, currently King Charles III. As the King is concurrently the monarch of 14 other Commonwealth realms and lives in the United Kingdom, he, on the advice of his New Zealand prime minister, appoints a governor-general to carry out his constitutional and ceremonial duties within the Realm of New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Wynyard</span> British politician

Major General Robert Henry Wynyard was a British Army officer and New Zealand colonial administrator, serving at various times as Lieutenant Governor of New Ulster Province, Administrator of the Government, and was the first Superintendent of Auckland Province.

The New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that granted self-government to the Colony of New Zealand. It was the second such Act, the previous 1846 Act not having been fully implemented. The purpose of the Act was to have constitutional independence from Britain. The definition of franchise or the ability to vote excluded all women, most Māori, all non-British people and those with convictions for serious offences.

New Leinster was a name given to the Stewart Island in the Royal Charter of November 1840, which stated the division of New Zealand into three parts. The division only held a geographic significance. In the 1846 New Zealand Constitution Act, the area known as New Leinster was incorporated into then established New Munster Province. It was named after Leinster, one of the provinces of Ireland.

William Swainson became the second, and last, Attorney-General of the Crown colony of New Zealand and instrumental in setting up the legal system of New Zealand. He was the first Speaker of the New Zealand Legislative Council.

The following lists events that happened during 1853 in New Zealand.

The following lists events that happened during 1852 in New Zealand.

The following lists events that happened during 1846 in New Zealand.

South Island nationalism refers to a nationalist movement in the South Island of New Zealand.

The Colony of New Zealand was a colony of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that encompassed the islands of New Zealand. The colony was proclaimed by its British settler population in 1841, and lasted until 1907, when the Dominion of New Zealand was established. The sovereignty of Britain over the islands was initially nominal, before becoming substantive upon the conclusion of the New Zealand Wars, after which Māori sovereignty was essentially overcome. The power of the British Government was vested in the governor of New Zealand. The colony had three successive capitals: Okiato in 1841; Auckland from 1841 to 1865; and Wellington from 1865, which continues as the capital of New Zealand today.

George Samuel Evans, was a barrister, editor and politician in New Zealand and colonial Australia. He was for some time a Minister of the Crown in the Colony of Victoria.

James Coates was a prominent pioneer settler of Auckland, New Zealand. He was also a senior official within the administration of the newly-established colony of New Zealand, following the proclamation of sovereignty by William Hobson and the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840.

The first New Zealand Legislative Council, also known as the General Legislative Council, was established in 1841 when New Zealand was created as a Crown colony separate from New South Wales. The Legislative Council consisted of the governor, the colonial secretary, the colonial treasurer, and senior justices of the peace; all members were appointed. From 1848, there were additional provincial Legislative Councils for New Ulster and New Munster. The general Legislative Council had twelve sessions, and the first ten were held in Auckland while the last two were held in Wellington. In May 1852, an act provided for two thirds of the membership of the provincial Legislative Councils to be elected. Elections for the New Ulster Province had already been held when news was received that the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 had been passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. No meeting of the elected members was ever called. The New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 disestablished the Legislative Council when writs for the first election of members of the New Zealand House of Representatives were returned. The original Legislative Councils ceased to exist in September 1853.

References

↑ Moon 2010, p. 66.
↑ "text of royal charter". London Gazette . 29 December 1846.
↑ "text of royal instructions". London Gazette . 29 December 1846.
↑ Quentin-Baxter & McLean 2017, p. 11.

Bibliography

Moon, Paul (2010). New Zealand Birth Certificates – 50 of New Zealand's Founding Documents. ISBN 9780958299718.
Quentin-Baxter, Alison; McLean, Janet (2017). This Realm of New Zealand: The Sovereign, the Governor-General, the Crown. Auckland University Press. ISBN 978-1-869-40875-6.