CABINET MANUAL 2017 Cabinet Office Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Wellington, New Zealand Published in 2017 by the Cabinet Office, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand © Crown Copyright This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. In essence, you are free to copy, distribute and adapt the work, as long as you attribute the work to the Crown (Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet) and abide by the other licence terms. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. Please note that no departmental or governmental emblem, logo or Coat of Arms may be used in any way which infringes any provision of the Flags, Emblems, and Names Protection Act 1981. Attribution to the Crown should be in written form and not by reproduction of any such emblem, logo or Coat of Arms. ISBN 978-0-947520-02-1 (paperback) ISBN 978-0-947520-03-8 (www.dpmc.govt.nz/cabinet-manual) Cabinet Manual 2017 Summary of Contents Foreword xv Preface xvii On the Constitution of New Zealand: An Introduction to the Foundations of the Current Form of Government 1 1 Sovereign, Governor-General, and Executive Council 7 2 Ministers of the Crown: Appointment, Role, and Conduct 19 3 Ministers of the Crown and the State Sector 41 4 Ministers, the Law, and Inquiries 57 5 Cabinet Decision-making 73 6 Elections, Transitions, and Government Formation 87 7 The Executive, Legislation, and the House 99 8 Official Information and Public Records 123 Appendix: Letters Patent Constituting the Office of Governor-General of New Zealand 1983 147 Index 159 Summary of Contents iii Cabinet Manual 2017 Contents Foreword xv Preface xvii On the Constitution of New Zealand: An Introduction to the Foundations of the Current Form of Government 1 1 Sovereign, Governor-General, and Executive Council 7 Introduction 7 Sovereign of New Zealand 7 References to “the Crown” 7 Governor-General 7 Office of Governor-General 7 Formal powers and functions of office 8 Royal prerogative 8 International role 8 Exercising the powers and functions of office 9 Administrator of the Government 9 Executive Council 9 Powers 9 Membership of Executive Council 10 Resignations and dismissals of members of the Executive Council 10 Clerk of the Executive Council 11 Meetings of Executive Council 12 Items for consideration by Executive Council 12 Preparing items for Executive Council 12 Meetings, quorum, and attendance 12 Confidentiality 13 Gazetting and entry into force 13 Announcement 14 New Zealand Royal Honours System 14 General 14 Administration 15 Nominations 15 New Zealand Royal Honours for non-New Zealand citizens 15 “The Right Honourable” and “The Honourable” 15 Acceptance of foreign honours by New Zealand citizens 16 Heraldry 16 Order of Precedence 16 Contents v Cabinet Manual 2017 2 Ministers of the Crown: Appointment, Role, and Conduct 19 Introduction 19 Prime Minister 19 Appointment 19 Role 19 Deputy Prime Minister 20 Ministers 21 Appointment 21 Resignation and dismissal 21 Legal power for Ministers to act for other Ministers 21 Role and powers of Ministers 22 Financial responsibility of Ministers 23 Cabinet Ministers, Ministers outside Cabinet, and Ministers of State 23 Ministerial portfolios 24 Associate Ministers 24 Acting Ministers 25 Duty Ministers 26 Parliamentary Under-Secretaries 26 Parliamentary Private Secretaries 27 Conduct, public duty, and personal interests 27 General 27 Conduct of Ministers 27 Register of Pecuniary and Other Specified Interests of Members of Parliament 28 Ministers’ interests 28 Identifying conflicts of interest 29 Types of conflicts of interest 29 Pecuniary interests 29 Interests of family, whānau, and close associates 29 Association 30 Managing conflicts of interest 30 Conflicts of interest in the House 31 Constituency interests 32 Interactions with representatives from non-government or commercial organisations 32 Gifts 32 General 32 Gifts from foreign governments 33 Gifts from non-government or commercial organisations 33 Cultural gifts 33 Political party donations 34 vi Contents Cabinet Manual 2017 Speaking engagements, endorsements, and non-ministerial activities 34 Speaking engagements 34 Endorsement of products, services, or organisations 35 Charitable fundraising 35 Business and professional activities 35 Provision of references 35 Use of information after leaving office 35 Government advertising and publicity guidelines 36 Ministerial travel 36 Overseas travel 36 Purpose of travel 36 Approval of travel 37 Travel costs 37 Accompanying family members, staff, and officials 37 Reporting on overseas travel 38 Personal travel overseas 38 Visits by Leaders and Ministers from other countries 38 Travel within New Zealand 38 3 Ministers of the Crown and the State Sector 41 Introduction 41 The public service, the state services, and the state sector 41 Public service 41 State services 41 State sector 42 Ministers and the public service 42 Roles and responsibilities 42 Ministers’ relationships with chief executives 43 Accountability documents 44 Briefing for incoming Ministers 44 Ministers and officials 45 Individual ministerial responsibility for departmental actions 46 Appointment and review of chief executives 47 Chief executives as employers 47 Ministers and Crown entities 48 General 48 Role of Ministers 48 Directions to support a whole of government approach 49 Role of Crown entity boards 49 Role of monitoring departments 50 Ministers and companies in the state sector 50 General principles 50 State-owned enterprises 50 Integrity and conduct throughout the state sector 51 Principles of public service 51 Contents vii Cabinet Manual 2017 Processes for upholding the principles of public service 52 Public comment on government policy 52 Public servants’ contact with the House of Representatives and political parties 53 Select committees 53 Caucus and caucus committees 53 Supporting consultation and negotiation between political parties 53 Private communications with Ministers and members of Parliament 54 4 Ministers, the Law, and Inquiries 57 Introduction 57 Attorney-General 57 General 57 Role of Attorney-General 57 Law officer role 57 Legal proceedings involving the Crown 58 Link between the judiciary and the government 58 Responsibility for agencies 58 Attorney-General’s functions and section 7 of the Constitution Act 1986 58 Comment by Ministers on judicial decisions 58 Crown legal business 59 Litigation involving Ministers 59 Judicial review 59 Production or discovery of documents and appearance in court by Ministers to give evidence 60 Service of court documents 61 Indemnity of Minister as a defendant 62 Proceedings brought against Ministers 62 Proceedings concerning the exercise of ministerial powers 62 Proceedings against a Minister personally 62 Indemnity in other cases 62 Preliminary steps 63 Cabinet consideration 63 Procedure where the Crown undertakes the defence 63 Procedure where private counsel is retained 63 Payment of costs or damages awarded 64 Receipt of costs or damages awarded 64 Indemnity of Minister as plaintiff 64 Legal advice and legal professional privilege 65 General 65 Legal professional privilege 65 Guidelines for the presentation of legal advice 66 Waiver of legal privilege 66 Release of legal advice 67 viii Contents Cabinet Manual 2017 Inquiries 67 General 67 Statutory inquiries 68 Royal commissions 68 Public inquiries 68 Government inquiries 68 Duties, powers, immunities, and privileges of statutory inquiries 69 Administrative support for inquiries 69 Establishing an inquiry 69 Subject of inquiry 70 Purpose of inquiry 70 Terms of reference 70 Appointment of inquirer or commissioner 70 Budget and timeframe 71 Other inquiries 71 Non-statutory ministerial inquiries 71 Statutory bodies with inquiry powers 71 Select committee inquiries 72 5 Cabinet Decision-making 73 Introduction 73 Cabinet 73 Cabinet committees 73 Principles of Cabinet decision-making 74 Items for consideration by Cabinet 74 Consultation 75 Portfolio consultation 75 Political consultation 76 Departmental consultation 76 Statutory consultation processes 76 Public consultation 76 Confidentiality 77 Collective responsibility 77 Principle of collective responsibility 77 Collective responsibility and coalition Ministers 77 Collective responsibility and support party Ministers 77 Collective responsibility and Parliamentary Under-Secretaries 78 Law officer function 78 Collective decision making and government agencies 78 Exercise of Ministers’ statutory powers and functions in the collective Cabinet context 78 Statutory decisions 78 Statutory decisions and Executive Council 79 Cabinet and Cabinet committee procedures 79 Preparing and submitting Cabinet papers 79 Deadlines and late papers 80 Contents ix Cabinet Manual 2017 Amendments to papers 80 Withdrawal of papers 80 Agendas 80 Oral items 81 Minutes 81 Meetings 81 Chairs of meetings 81 Attendance of Ministers 81 Quorum 82 Attendance of officials and visiting dignitaries at Cabinet 82 Attendance of officials at Cabinet committee meetings 82 Financial matters and Cabinet 83 Government spending 83 The Budget cycle 83 The Crown’s financial veto 84 Impact analysis for regulatory proposals 84 Constitutional issues and Cabinet 84 International treaties and Cabinet 84 Referral to Cabinet of decisions taken outside the Cabinet process 85 Secretary of the Cabinet and the Cabinet Office 85 6 Elections, Transitions, and Government Formation 87 Introduction 87 The electoral cycle 87 General 87 Cabinet