Between April and June 1868 the first four Maori MPs were elected to New Zealand's Parliament. Despite ongoing debate, the Maori seats remain a distinctive feature of this country's electoral landscape 140 years later.
The well-known dandy Jackson Palmer, Member of Parliament for Waitemata, plays to the ladies' gallery in 1893. The ladies' gallery was located opposite the Speaker, supposedly not to distract Members of Parliament when speaking.
New Zealand's Parliament dates back to 1854, just 14 years after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and the beginning of the European settlement of the country. For most of its history as a nation state, New Zealand has had some form of elected government.
Today there are two parts to Parliament – the House of Representatives (or the Lower House) and the Governor-General, but between 1854 and 1951 there was a third part, the Legislative Council (or the Upper House).
It started with a bang – 21 in fact, fired from the guns at Auckland's Fort Britomart. As soon as the smoke had cleared, New Zealand's first Parliament was under way.
For centuries, politics and Parliament have been the subject of public comment, satire and humour. Almost since the beginning, New Zealand's Parliament has been portrayed through the eyes of cartoonists, whose work appeared in newspapers and magazines.
Painters and photographers loved to capture the beauty of Parliament's buildings in postcards, and New Zealanders and visitors sent these to friends and family in new Zealand and overseas.
In 1990 New Zealand's first Maori Governor-General, Sir Paul Reeves (1985–90) (right), swore in ministers in the newly elected National government of Jim Bolger (third from right); the Cabinet secretary and clerk of the Executive Council
