of the Cook Islands and Niue. Upper house The National Party won the promising to abolish the Legislative Council. The council was then stacked with the so-nicknamed "suicide squad" to allow the passage of the Legislative Council Abolition Act 1950 by the House of Representatives to abolish the upper house. Despite proposals to re-establish an upper house, such as Jim Bolger's Senate proposal in 1990, New Zealand's Parliament remains unicameral. As such, legislation is able to progress through the legislative stages much faster in comparison to other Westminster-style parliament. Legal academic and politician Geoffrey Palmer described the New Zealand Parliament in 1979 as the "fastest law maker in the West". Reforms of the 1984–1990 Labour Government Immediately following the in which the Labour Party gained a parliamentary majority, a constitutional crisis arose when incumbent Prime Minister Sir Robert Muldoon of the National Party refused to implement the instructions of Prime Minister-elect David Lange to devalue the New Zealand dollar to head off a speculative run on the currency. The crisis was resolved when Muldoon relented three days later, under pressure from his own Cabinet, which threatened to install Deputy Prime Minister Jim McLay in his place. Following the constitutional crisis, the incoming Fourth Labour Government formed an Officials Committee on Constitutional Reform to review the transfer of power. As a result of the committee, the Government released the Bill of Rights White paper and also introduced the Constitution Act 1986, the first major review of the New Zealand Constitution Act for 134 years. Prior to this Act, only 12 of the 82 provisions of the 1852 Act remained in place. The Act consists of five main parts, covering the sovereign, the executive, the legislature, the judiciary, and miscellaneous provisions. Parliament also passed the Imperial Laws Application Act 1988 to clarify which Imperial and English Acts are to apply to New Zealand. The Fourth Labour government also began the process of electoral reform. It convened the Royal Commission on the Electoral System in 1986. The Commission suggested New Zealand change to the mixed-member proportional (MMP) electoral system. Two referendums were held during the 1990s on the issue, with MMP being adopted in 1993 and implemented in 1996. Although MMP has resulted in many changes to New Zealand's political system, such as more complex governing arrangements negotiated between multiple parties, significant aspects of New Zealand's constitution remained the same following its adoption.