Secretary of the Cabinet (New Zealand)
The secretary of the Cabinet is a senior public servant in New Zealand. The Cabinet secretary usually serves concurrently as the clerk of the Executive Council. The secretary is responsible for the impartial recording of Cabinet decisions, and as clerk of the Executive Council they are also a liaison between the Cabinet and the governor-general. The secretary is also responsible to Cabinet as a collective for ensuring the confidentiality of Cabinet proceedings, and the impartial and effective operation of the Cabinet system. The current Cabinet Secretary and Clerk of the Executive Council is Rachel Hayward.
Secretary of the Cabinet (New Zealand)
William Gisborne, the first secretary to the Cabinet
Prime Minister-elect Keith Holyoake leaves Parliament Buildings followed by the clerk of the executive council, Thomas James Sherrard, on 12 December 1960
The Cabinet of New Zealand is the New Zealand Government's body of senior ministers, accountable to the New Zealand Parliament. Cabinet meetings, chaired by the prime minister, occur once a week; in them, vital issues are discussed and government policy is formulated. Cabinet is also composed of a number of committees focused on specific areas of governance and policy. Though not established by any statute, Cabinet wields significant power within the New Zealand political system, with nearly all government bills it introduces in Parliament being enacted.
Swearing-in of ministers by Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy, 26 October 2017. Cabinet members are first appointed as executive councillors before receiving warrants for their ministerial portfolios.
A meeting of Cabinet in 1972. At this time, Cabinet members were usually Pākehā and male; Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan (seated second-left from the centre) was the only female Cabinet minister.
Photograph taken before the first meeting of the Cabinet of the Sixth National Government of New Zealand, Beehive, 28 November 2023
Image: Winston Peters 2023 cropped headshot