Suicide squad (New Zealand)

The "suicide squad" was the group of New Zealand Legislative Councillors appointed in 1950 by Prime Minister Sidney Holland tasked with voting the New Zealand Legislative Council out of existence. The Legislative Council was a body appointed by the Prime Minister since the colonial days, and by the 1940s it was seen as ineffectual and obsolete. However, its abolition would involve a complex constitutional process, so Holland appointed new councillors with the task to draft the laws that would eventually dissolve the body, hence the nickname. On 1 December 1950, the Legislative Council met for the last time, and by a majority of ten voted itself out of existence; the Council was formally abolished on 1 January 1951. rdf:langString