49-535: The New Zealand Legislative Council ( Māori : Whare o Runga , lit. 'Upper House') 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
98-440: A political ideology that emphasised the preservation of traditional European beliefs , institutions and practices. Initially conservatism was a philosophy used by the "men in possession" of a new country, but most of all it espoused the spirits of individualism akin to Herbert Spencer 's theories. Prior to the mid-1870s, New Zealand's political factions were based less on ideologies and more on provincial allegiances. This
147-527: A Labour MP, argued that other political reforms in New Zealand such as the strengthening of the select committee system, and the introduction of proportional representation , provided adequate checks and balances, which would simply be duplicated by a second chamber. The Legislative Council Chamber remains the location of the speech from the throne —as following the British tradition, the sovereign (or
196-531: A Legislative Council appointed by their predecessors. In 1891, life membership was replaced by a seven-year term by the new Liberal Party government of John Ballance . While many Liberals apparently favoured outright abolition, it offered minimal political benefit for a ruling government, and such a radical move would have unnecessarily provoked fears about the new administration . Instead, term limits were introduced primarily for practical reasons, as Ballance's conservative predecessor, Harry Atkinson , had stacked
245-654: A further eleven members in 1951 after abolition of the Council. It was specified in the Constitution Act 1852 that the Council would consist of at least ten members. Although not actually a part of the Act, instructions were issued that the number of members should not exceed fifteen. One member was to be selected as speaker of the Legislative Council , corresponding roughly to the position of speaker of
294-638: A human, professional translator. Douglas Hofstadter gave an example of a failure of machine translation: the English sentence "In their house, everything comes in pairs. There's his car and her car, his towels and her towels, and his library and hers." might be translated into French as " Dans leur maison, tout vient en paires. Il y a sa voiture et sa voiture, ses serviettes et ses serviettes, sa bibliothèque et les siennes. " That does not make sense because it does not distinguish between "his" car and "hers". Often, first-generation immigrants create something of
343-460: A literal translation in how they speak their parents' native language. This results in a mix of the two languages that is something of a pidgin . Many such mixes have specific names, e.g., Spanglish or Denglisch . For example, American children of German immigrants are heard using "rockingstool" from the German word Schaukelstuhl instead of "rocking chair". Literal translation of idioms
392-761: A representative) does not enter the elected House. The usher of the Black Rod summons the members of the House of Representatives to attend the Opening of Parliament in the Legislative Council Chamber, where a speech is read usually by the governor-general. It is also used for some select committee meetings, as well as meetings of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and other official functions. Most of
441-459: A revising chamber, in practice, debates and votes typically simply replicated those in the lower house. It was abolished by an Act of Parliament in 1950, with its last sitting in December 1950. The Council's chamber is no longer utilised as a debating chamber , but it is used for certain ceremonial functions, such as the speech from the throne . The first Legislative Council was established by
490-460: A seven-year term. The new members were Charles Johnston and John Davies Ormond on 20 January; and Harry Atkinson (elected as speaker), James Fulton , William Downie Stewart , and John Blair Whyte on 22 January. John Hall had written to Ormond: "It will be a serious disaster if the Council is not strengthened before the Reds get into the saddle." Petitions were tabled against the "stacking of
539-563: A snatch division on a question about a culvert on a back country road. They could hardly remember how to draft a bill now, and they have forgotten what success looks like. The Conservatives began to improve, with many initial supporters of the Liberals now defecting upon having now received the reforms they wanted in the 1890s. In the election of 1908 election , the Conservatives improved remarkably, gaining ten seats. Of further aid to
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#1732776505927588-460: A translation that represents the precise meaning of the original text but does not attempt to convey its style, beauty, or poetry. There is, however, a great deal of difference between a literal translation of a poetic work and a prose translation. A literal translation of poetry may be in prose rather than verse but also be error-free. Charles Singleton's 1975 translation of the Divine Comedy
637-406: A work written in a language they do not know. For example, Robert Pinsky is reported to have used a literal translation in preparing his translation of Dante 's Inferno (1994), as he does not know Italian. Similarly, Richard Pevear worked from literal translations provided by his wife, Larissa Volokhonsky, in their translations of several Russian novels. Literal translation can also denote
686-549: Is metaphrase (as opposed to paraphrase for an analogous translation). It is to be distinguished from an interpretation (done, for example, by an interpreter ). Literal translation leads to mistranslation of idioms , which can be a serious problem for machine translation . The term "literal translation" often appeared in the titles of 19th-century English translations of the classical Bible and other texts. Word-for-word translations ("cribs", "ponies", or "trots") are sometimes prepared for writers who are translating
735-836: Is a source of translators' jokes. One such joke, often told about machine translation , translates "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak" (an allusion to Mark 14:38 ) into Russian and then back into English, getting "The vodka is good, but the meat is rotten". This is not an actual machine-translation error, but rather a joke which dates back to 1956 or 1958. Another joke in the genre transforms "out of sight, out of mind" to "blind idiot" or "invisible idiot". Historic conservatism in New Zealand Defunct Conservatism in New Zealand , though related to its counterparts in other Western countries , developed uniquely over time. Advocates followed
784-526: Is clearly not a phrase that would generally be used in English, even though its meaning might be clear. Literal translations in which individual components within words or compounds are translated to create new lexical items in the target language (a process also known as "loan translation") are called calques , e.g., beer garden from German Biergarten . The literal translation of the Italian sentence, " So che questo non va bene " ("I know that this
833-424: Is not good"), produces "(I) know that this not (it) goes well", which has English words and Italian grammar . Early machine translations (as of 1962 at least) were notorious for this type of translation, as they simply employed a database of words and their translations. Later attempts utilized common phrases , which resulted in better grammatical structure and the capture of idioms, but with many words left in
882-457: Is regarded as a prose translation. The term literal translation implies that it is probably full of errors, since the translator has made no effort to (or is unable to) convey correct idioms or shades of meaning, for example, but it can also be a useful way of seeing how words are used to convey meaning in the source language. A literal English translation of the German phrase " Ich habe Hunger " would be "I have hunger" in English, but this
931-539: The 1963 election . In 1990, the National government of Jim Bolger proposed an elected Senate, an idea advanced partly as an alternative to New Zealand's electoral reform process . Unicameralists in New Zealand, like former Prime Minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer , argued that the country is a small and relatively homogeneous unitary state , and hence does not need the same arrangements as federal states like Australia or Canada . In addition, Peter Dunne , then also
980-524: The Charter for Erecting the Colony of New Zealand on 16 November 1840, which created New Zealand as a Crown colony separate from New South Wales on 1 July 1841. Originally, the Legislative Council consisted of the governor, colonial secretary , and colonial treasurer , and a number of senior justices of the peace. The Legislative Council had the power to issue ordinances ( statutory instruments ). With
1029-648: The First Labour Government . In 1950, when the First National Government appointed several new members to vote the council out of existence, three women were included; Cora Louisa Burrell , Ethel Gould and Agnes Weston . Māori were slightly better represented. The first two Māori councillors were appointed in 1872, not long after the creation of the Māori electorates in the House; Mōkena Kōhere and Wi Tako Ngātata . A convention
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#17327765059271078-560: The House of Representatives . The so-called " Continuous Ministry " governed almost this whole period, with two breaks from October 1877 to October 1879 and August 1884 to October 1887, when "Liberal" ministries were formed under George Grey and Robert Stout , respectively. The Continuous Ministry was governing once again in 1887–88, the worst years of the Long Depression , when Premier Harry Atkinson became very unpopular, even with
1127-470: The governor . As the power of the governor over New Zealand politics gradually decreased, it became the convention that appointments were made on the recommendation of the premier (later prime minister), essentially meaning that councillors were selected by the government of the day. However, the life term of councillors meant that the Legislative Council always lagged behind the House of Representatives—premiers were frequently hampered in their activities by
1176-519: The Australian state of Queensland had done to abolish its upper house in 1922. They included former MPs Harold Dickie and Garnet Mackley . To encourage co-operation from other members, Holland also promised to use the money saved through abolition to set up a fund for retired members. A Statutes Revision Committee (now defunct) was established to carry out some of the scrutiny that the Legislative Council had been intended for. Although abolition
1225-562: The Conservative cause was the emergence of independent Labour parties who were leeching away supporters from the Liberals, particularly in cities. In February 1909 Massey announced the formation of the Reform Party , New Zealand's first true right-wing political party, in his attempts to establish a credible vision to there being a possible alternative government to challenge the long established Liberal dominance. The name "Reform"
1274-553: The Conservatives until 1899. The beginning of the 1900s was the weakest point in New Zealand conservatism. Helped by jingoism in the Second Boer War , Seddon was at the height of his power, reigning supreme over parliament. By contrast, the Conservatives were disorganised, demoralised and, by 1901, leaderless. In 1902 a Sydney newspaper said of the Conservatives: They have hardly [in 12 years] carried even
1323-514: The Council with seven conservatives shortly before leaving office. Ballance had considerable difficulty in achieving his reform of the Council, with major clashes occurring between him and the Governor, the Earl of Onslow , who had approved the seven appointments. Ballance's victory is seen as establishing an important precedent in the relationship between governor and prime minister. The structure of
1372-517: The Council" by MPs and by Aucklanders. But the stacking has been seen as assisting the Liberal Government, which "might not have survived but for this assistance ... [which] provided a useful unifying influence in the critical early years" and "identified with dramatic clarity the reactionary class enemy ... and acted as a convenient brake on the radicals [who] were asked to settle for moderate measures." A number of proposals were made that
1421-525: The House of Representatives . A quorum of five members was established. The first appointments to the Legislative Council were made in 1853, when thirteen members were called to the upper house. They were John Salmon , William Swainson and Frederick Whitaker on 26 May 1853; Mathew Richmond on 23 June 1853; and on 31 December 1853 Edmund Bellairs , George Cutfield , William Kenny , John Yeeden Lloyd , Ralph Richardson , Henry Seymour , Henry St. Hill , Henry Petre and John Watts-Russell . Gradually,
1470-516: The Legislative Council prior to 1891 was therefore similar to that of the Canadian Senate (which continues as an appointed upper house, although senators are no longer appointed to life terms, and must retire at the age of 75). The style " The Honourable " could be retained from 1894 by a councillor with not less than ten years service if recommended by the governor. This privilege was extended to one member, William Montgomery , in 1906; and
1519-400: The Legislative Council should be elected, not appointed. When responsible government had been granted at the beginning of the 2nd Parliament , the governor, Thomas Gore Browne , was given sufficient authority to make the Legislative Council elected, but no action was taken. In 1914, a reform proposal to establish a 42 or 43 member council elected by proportional representation for six years
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1568-581: The Legislative Council with fellow conservatives, to control the Liberals from the upper house (often compared to the period 1906–11 in Britain where the Liberal government was blocked by peers in the House of Lords). Ballance eventually got his way with the Governor General by limiting the term of a MLC from life to seven years. However, the Liberals were not able to fully claim the upper house from
1617-730: The New Zealand Parliament to amend the Constitution Act and abolish the Legislative Council. However, the Labour government did not actually enact the abolition itself, and lost office in the 1949 general election . In 1950, the National Party, now in government, passed the Legislative Council Abolition Act. To assist its passage into law, Holland appointed twenty members (who were dubbed the " suicide squad ") to vote for abolition, just as
1666-503: The Opposition William Massey accepting endorsement from the latter in the 1905 and 1908 elections . The conservatives struggled to contrast with appeal against Seddon and his Liberal political vehicle. William Pember Reeves , when asked of what differentiated the Conservatives from the Liberals in parliament, phrased them as "parties of resistance and progress" respectively. Atkinson had some respite, stacking
1715-448: The following year. Unlike the elected lower house , the House of Representatives , the Legislative Council was wholly appointed by the governor-general . The New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 had authorised the appointment of a minimum of ten councillors. Beginning in the 1890s, the membership of the upper house became controlled by government of the day. As a result, the Legislative Council possessed little influence. While intended as
1764-717: The immensely popular Richard Seddon to the premiership backed by a well-organised Liberal machine. His opponents struggled to set up an equivalent full-scale organisation in competition to the Liberal Party. Conservative politicians operated under various banners in this period such as the Political Reform Association (1887–91), the National Association (1891–99) and the Political Reform League (1905), with Leader of
1813-580: The legislative process. The Legislative Council rarely criticised bills sent to it by the House, and many believed that it was now obsolete. Some favoured its reform, while others favoured its abolition; among the latter group was the leader of the National Party , Sidney Holland , who introduced a private member's bill to abolish it in August 1947. However, because the Parliament of New Zealand
1862-423: The maximum number of members was raised, and the limit was eventually abolished. The Council reached a peak of 53 members in 1885 and 1950. The Legislative Council was generally less representative of the New Zealand public than was the House of Representatives. Women were not eligible to serve as councillors before 1941, and only five were appointed. Two, Mary Anderson and Mary Dreaver , were appointed in 1946 by
1911-413: The original language. For translating synthetic languages , a morphosyntactic analyzer and synthesizer are required. The best systems today use a combination of the above technologies and apply algorithms to correct the "natural" sound of the translation. In the end, though, professional translation firms that employ machine translation use it as a tool to create a rough translation that is then tweaked by
1960-492: The passing of the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 , the first Legislative Council was disestablished and a similar appointed body was established, effective from 1853. The new Legislative Council was constituted as the upper house of the General Assembly (or "Parliament"), which did not actually meet until 24 May 1854, 16 months after the Constitution Act had come into force. The Legislative Council
2009-405: The time, it’s an empty space where an important element of a democracy could have been Literal translation Literal translation , direct translation , or word-for-word translation is a translation of a text done by translating each word separately without looking at how the words are used together in a phrase or sentence. In translation theory , another term for literal translation
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2058-403: The wealthy his erstwhile supporters. The ensuing election in 1890 was a disaster. An ailing Atkinson resigned and a new ministry was formed under John Ballance , leader of the progressive New Zealand Liberal Party , the first organised political party in the country The beginning of party politics in New Zealand was a setback for conservative-oriented politicians, worsened by the accession of
2107-407: Was established that there should always be Māori representation on the Council. In January 1891 the outgoing Atkinson Ministry appointed six new members to the Legislative Council, with the object of blocking any radical bills that John Ballance (who became Premier on 24 January) and his Liberal Government might introduce. They were the last appointments for life as the new government introduced
2156-453: Was intended as an interim measure, no serious attempts were made to introduce a new second chamber, and Parliament has been unicameral since. Support for bicameralism is not completely absent, and there have been occasional proposals for a new upper house or Senate . A constitutional reform committee chaired by Ronald Algie proposed an appointed Senate in 1952. The short-lived Liberal Party campaigned on re-establishing an upper house in
2205-516: Was intended to act as a revising chamber, scrutinising and amending bills which had been passed by the House of Representatives. It could not initiate bills, and was prohibited from amending money bills (legislation relating to finance and expenditure). The model for the Legislative Council's role was the House of Lords in the United Kingdom. The New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 provided for councillors to be appointed for life terms by
2254-489: Was introduced by the Liberals, but postponed due to World War I . In 1920 it was no longer favoured by the Reform government then in power. But the 1914 Act "remained like a sword of Damocles suspended above the nominated upper house, available at will or whim to any succeeding government". By the middle of the 20th century, the Legislative Council was increasingly being looked on as ineffectual and making little difference to
2303-418: Was not new, but it served its purpose to efface the "Conservative" branding and party-image with which Massey's supporters were viewed. The plan worked and following the 1911 election , the Liberals were ousted from power in a no-confidence motion, 41 votes to 33 on 5 July 1912. Massey became Prime Minister and formed the first non-Liberal government in 21 years. Below is a list of the leading figures among
2352-423: Was to change however, with members of parliament becoming more identifiable as one of two groups—"Conservative" or "Liberal"—akin to Britain. The labels often walked hand in hand with each MP's stance on land policy. Nearly all those calling themselves conservatives supported freehold policy, while those labelled as liberals advocated for leasehold legislature. From 1876 to 1890 the conservative factions dominated
2401-675: Was unable to amend the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 , it had to first adopt the Statute of Westminster 1931 , which it did with the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1947 . Following the adoption of the Act, the Parliament of New Zealand passed the New Zealand Constitution Amendment (Request and Consent) Act 1947 , and the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the New Zealand Constitution Amendment Act 1947 , allowing
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