Cabinet – Government’s Senior Committee

Cabinet plays a leading role in our system of government. We hear about its decisions every day in the media, but most of us don’t really know a lot about how it works. This article explains a bit about how it evolved, and looks at its role and significance.

The Cabinet is the government’s most senior committee. Its meetings are chaired by the Prime (first) Minister. It is where and how Ministers collectively make decisions on issues relating to their functions, powers and responsibilities. Cabinet is the body that decides on government policy, approves the content of government legislation, decides how the government is to spend its money, and oversees the administration.

Yet for all its power, Cabinet works quite informally. It is not created by any legislation or other legal document. It evolved from a time when monarchs ruled with real power at their disposal – dating from Britain in the 1600s – when the monarch required a forum to discuss important matters with his or her most senior advisers. As Britain evolved into a constitutional monarchy, the power of Ministers in the Cabinet increased, with the monarch becoming less involved in decision-making. Finally, in the 1790s, the monarch stopped attending Cabinet completely. When this happened, Cabinet Ministers would collectively decide on the major issues of the day, and then advise the monarch over what action should be taken.

Like its British ancestor, Cabinet in NZ has never had any legal functions or powers. The power to take action lies with its individual Ministers. However, Ministers exercise their powers on all major issues on the basis of Cabinet’s collective decision-making.

Cabinet has no legal relationships with the various arms of government (it has no relationship, for example, with the public service). Its decisions come out in the form of “minutes”, which are sent to Ministers who refer them to departments for action. What’s more, it is the individual Ministers who are accountable to Parliament for ministerial actions and the actions of departments, not the Cabinet. In spite of this lack of formal legal relationships, Cabinet is nonetheless seen by the public as, and is in fact, the “engine room” of NZ’s system of government.

How Cabinet Operates

Because Cabinet is an informal body, it can determine its own rules and procedures. These procedures are contained in the Cabinet Manual, which is the rule book of Cabinet government. The Manual can be found at http://www.dpmc.govt.nz/cabinet/manualwww.dpmc.govt.nz/cabinet/manual. Cabinet generally operates by consensus. However, that consensus occurs within boundaries that are set by certain constitutional conventions concerning the role and powers of the Prime Minister (constitutional conventions are long-standing and recognised practices, which regulate the use of legal powers). The Prime Minister’s place in Cabinet is, as the Latin phrase goes, – primus inter pares – “first amongst equals”. (It’s also a phrase that nicely hints at a system that operates with checks and balances.) One important convention is that the Prime Minister of the day has the ultimate right of veto – only he or she can recommend the appointment or dismissal of Ministers to the Governor-General.

Collective Responsibility

The principle of collective responsibility underpins the system of Cabinet government. It reflects the principle that the House expresses its confidence in the collective whole of government, rather than in individual Ministers. Similarly, the Governor-General, in acting on ministerial advice, needs to be confident that individual Ministers represent official government policy. In all areas of their work, therefore, Ministers represent and implement government policy.

Acceptance of ministerial office requires acceptance of collective responsibility. Issues are often debated vigorously within the confidential setting of Cabinet meetings, although consensus is usually reached and votes are rarely taken. Once Cabinet makes a decision, then Ministers must support it, regardless of their personal views and whether or not they were at the meeting concerned. Note, however, there may need to be a bit more flexibility in a coalition government situation – see below.

In a coalition government, Ministers are expected to show careful judgement when referring to party policy that differs from government policy. Subject to any “agree to disagree” processes (see below), a Minister’s support and responsibility for the collective government position must always be clear.

Coalition governments may decide to establish “agree to disagree” processes, which may allow Ministers to maintain, in public, different party positions on particular issues or policies. Once the final outcome of any “agree to disagree” issue or policy has been determined, either at the Cabinet level or through some other agreed process, Ministers must implement the resulting decision or legislation, regardless of their position throughout the decision making process.

“Agree to disagree” processes may only be used in relation to different party positions. Any public dissociation from Cabinet decisions by individual Ministers outside the agreed processes is unacceptable.

Who Gets Into Cabinet

The Governor-General appoints Ministers on the recommendation of the Prime Minister alone. However, the Prime Minister is likely to make her/his recommendations in view of political considerations. These might include a coalition agreement (if any), or internal party rules such as a caucus vote on Cabinet membership. In the Labour Party, for example, caucus (the caucus is all MPs belonging to a particular party who meet privately, usually weekly) has elected members of the Cabinet, with the Prime Minister assigning areas of ministerial work, that is, “portfolios”. In the National Party, the Prime Minister alone selects Ministers.

Cabinet Committees

Aside from meetings of the full Cabinet, there are also meetings of various Cabinet committees. These committees (made up of 6-10 members, including the Minister/s holding the relevant portfolios) consider issues in greater detail than is possible in full Cabinet. For example, they allocate resources in particular areas and review the performance of departments. Their recommendations are usually, but not always, adopted by the full Cabinet. Cabinet committees may be permanent, operating over the entire term of office of the government; or “ad hoc”, that is, set up for a limited time to consider a special issue or controversy. Traditionally, the Prime Minister determines the membership of Cabinet committees, and is automatically a member of all committees. Under MMP, the membership of Cabinet committees will also be discussed with any coalition partner.

Note: At the time of writing this article the membership of Cabinet committees had not been announced. When they are announced they can be seen at http://www.dpmc.govt.nz/cabinet/committees/

Some Cabinet Workings

Detailed Cabinet rules, procedures and conventions are set out in the Cabinet Manual and the step-by-step guide. Here are some of them:

  • Cabinet meetings are confidential. Items and reports for consideration are submitted by Ministers to the Cabinet Office before each meeting. The Cabinet Office acts as a “gatekeeper”, making sure that the items and reports follow Cabinet rules, and that they are referred on to full Cabinet or to the relevant Cabinet committee as appropriate.
  • Cabinet Office puts together the agenda for meetings of a Cabinet committee or full Cabinet in consultation with the chair of the meeting (in the case of full Cabinet, the chair is the Prime Minister). Within the meeting itself, however, the chair of that meeting may make changes in agenda items or in the order they are discussed.
  • Cabinet minutes are the official record of Cabinet decisions. Cabinet minutes may be requested under the Official Information Act.
  • Reports made to Cabinet are confidential, although they are subject to the Official Information Act.

Note: It’s only comparatively recently that Cabinet papers have been kept for posterity. Since the Archives Act was passed in 1957, the Cabinet Office has ensured that all Cabinet records are transferred to the National Archives for preservation. The Archives Act 1957 has itself been repealed recently. Cabinet records are now deposited with NZ Archives under the Public Records Act 2005.

Thanks to the Cabinet Office

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