3rd New Zealand Parliament

The 3rd New Zealand Parliament was a group of leaders chosen to make rules and decisions for New Zealand a long time ago. People in New Zealand voted for their leaders between 12 December 1860 and 28 March 1861. This voting happened in 43 different places, called electorates, and it chose 53 leaders, or MPs, to represent them.

During this time, two new places were added where people could vote. One was called the Gold Fields District, which was added to the existing areas in Otago. Another new voting place was made by splitting the City of Dunedin into two parts: Dunedin and Suburbs North and Dunedin and Suburbs South. Because of these changes, the number of MPs grew to 57.

While this group of leaders was working, there were six different groups of leaders, called Ministries, that took turns being in charge. This shows how the government of New Zealand was changing and growing during this time.

Historical context

The third Parliament opened on 3 June 1861, after the elections of 1860–1861. This was the second time New Zealand had a government chosen by Parliament, not just by the Governor.

During this time, there were no political parties yet, which made it hard to form and keep a government. The Parliament met while the New Zealand wars were happening. Sadly, two members were killed during these conflicts.

Ministries

Since 1856, the first Stafford Ministry, led by Edward Stafford, was in charge. This was the third time New Zealand had its own government, and it ended on 12 July 1861. Stafford was the third Premier of New Zealand. Then, William Fox started the second Fox Ministry, which lasted from 12 July 1861 to 6 August 1862. Fox had been Premier before. After that, Alfred Domett, the fourth Premier, led the Domett Ministry from 6 August 1862 until 30 October 1863.

Next came the Whitaker–Fox Ministry, led by Frederick Whitaker as the fifth Premier, from 30 October 1863 to 24 November 1864. This was followed by the Weld Ministry under Frederick Weld as the sixth Premier, lasting from 24 November 1864 to 16 October 1865. Just before the 1866 general elections, Stafford became Premier again on 16 October 1865, leading the second Stafford Ministry until 28 June 1869.

Sessions

The 3rd New Zealand Parliament had five sessions. The first session began on May 30, 1861. Up until this time, Parliament always met in Auckland. There was a discussion about finding a more central place to meet. The second session of this Parliament was the first to meet outside of Auckland, using the buildings of the Wellington Provincial Council. A plan to make this move to Wellington permanent was almost agreed to but lost by just one vote.

The fifth session started on July 26, 1865, and Parliament stopped meeting on October 30 of that year.

Electoral boundaries for the third Parliament

The 1860–61 elections used 43 different areas called electorates, which was a big jump from the 28 used before. This change happened because of a law called the Representation Act 1860.

Initial composition of the third Parliament

53 seats were created across 43 areas. The City of Wellington area was the only one with three representatives, and eight areas had two representatives each. The other 34 areas each had one representative.

Changes during term

There were many changes during the time of the third New Zealand Parliament.

Some members of Parliament left or could no longer serve, and others took their places. For example, in the Bruce area, a member named Kettle passed away, and Edward Cargill took over. Later, when Cargill left, James Macandrew became the new member.

New areas to elect representatives were also added. Two new areas around Dunedin, called Dunedin and Suburbs South and Dunedin and Suburbs North, were created. The Goldfields area was also added because many people moved there during a time of discovery. Representatives were chosen for these new areas during special elections.