Coalition Operating Agreement

An interesting circular by the Cabinet Office on how the coalition Government will operate. Some key aspects:

• All Ministers must be consulted as appropriate in line with their portfolio responsibilities, no matter which party they represent. Alongside the process of Ministerial portfolio consultation, political consultation will also occur where required. On some particularly significant or sensitive issues, the political consultation process between the parties may supersede the usual Ministerial portfolio consultation processes.
• Consultation between parties will be undertaken on all significant policy proposals and government appointments, and other sensitive or controversial issues – including implementation of the coalition agreements.
• All legislative proposals must first be consulted between National, ACT, and New Zealand First to ensure that there is sufficient parliamentary support for them to proceed.
• Ministers’ offices should advise all Chiefs of Staff of upcoming draft bills. Papers seeking approval for the introduction of bills should not be submitted to LEG until the Minister’s office has received confirmation from other parties that there is support for the bill to proceed.