Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council who served from 1930 to 1932 were appointed for life by the Governor on the advice of the Premier.
[2] The Premier Jack Lang had been seeking to swamp the council, however the Governor Sir Philip Game had declined to do so in November 1930, March, June and September 1931 when Lang sought 70 new members be appointed.
Lang then announced his intention of presenting the bills for Game's Royal assent without a referendum.
The following day, two members of the Legislative Council, Thomas Playfair and Arthur Trethowan, applied for and were granted an injunction by the Supreme Court preventing the President of the Council and the ministers from presenting the bills to the Governor without having held a referendum.
[8] The bills repealing Section 7A and abolishing the Legislative Council could not therefore be presented to the Governor for assent as they had been passed in a referendum.