The Legislative Council of New Zealand was the upper house of the New Zealand Parliament from 1853 until 1951. Unlike the lower house, the New Zealand House of Representatives, the Legislative Council was appointed.

The Legislative Council was intended to act as a revising chamber, scrutinizing 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 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 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. Part of the Liberal Party's motivation was probably ideological, but part was undoubtedly political — Ballance's conservative predecessor, Harry Atkinson, had stacked the council with 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 — Ballance's victory is seen as establishing an important precedent in the relationship between Governor and Prime Minister.

New Zealand (Māori: Aotearoa) is an island country located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses ‒ that of the North and South Islands ‒ as well as numerous smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres (900 mi) east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres (600 mi) south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. Because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans.

During its long isolation, New Zealand developed a distinctive biodiversity of both animal and plant life. Most notable are the large number of unique bird species, many of which became extinct after the arrival of humans and introduced mammals. With a mild maritime climate, the land was mostly covered in forest. The country's varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions caused by the Pacific and Indo-Australian Plates clashing beneath the earth's surface.

A Legislative Council is the name given to the legislatures, or one of the chambers of the legislature of many nations and colonies.

A member of a legislative council is commonly referred to as an MLC.

Colin James (born Colin James Munn, August 17, 1964, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, who plays in the blues, rock, and neo-swing genres. He grew up as a Quaker.

James and his band The Hoodoo Men opened for Stevie Ray Vaughan for several tour dates in the U.S.. James also played guitar on Richard Marx's song "Thunder and Lightning".

In 1988, following his association with Vaughan, James released his self-titled debut album, which yielded several international hit singles, as did the followup Sudden Stop. He presaged the mid-1990s swing music revival with his Colin James and the Little Big Band project, which released a successful first CD in 1993, followed by two others in 1998 and 2006, as well as a Christmas album in 2007.

James's worldwide popularity waned somewhat in the late 1990s, but he continued to release albums in rock, blues, and acoustic styles, in addition to his Little Big Band. In 2005, he gave a command performance for Queen Elizabeth II during her visit to his home province of Saskatchewan.

Chris Auchinvole JP (born 7 March 1945) is a New Zealand politician.

Auchinvole was born in Prestwick, Scotland, and attended the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst in England. In New Zealand, he has been involved with the export industry, and operated a company based on the West Coast. He has also been involved in the Uniting Church, becoming a lay preacher.

In the 2005 election, Auchinvole stood as the National Party's candidate for the West Coast-Tasman seat. Despite reducing the incumbent's majority by over 5,568 votes, he was unsuccessful. Nevertheless he entered Parliament as a list MP, having been ranked 34th. In the 2008 election, Auchinvole won the electorate with a small majority beating Labour's Damien O'Connor who had held the seat for many years. Auchinvole has three electorate offices, located in Motueka, Greymouth and Westport and he lives with his wife in Moana.

He is a wedding celebrant, and officiated at the wedding in Parliament of fellow MP Tau Henare on 7 March 2012.