Cabinet Handbook - The Department of the Prime Minister and ...

Declarations of interest
86. Any matter which may give rise to a conflict between duty and interest must be declared (see the
Guide on Key Elements of Ministerial Responsibility).
87. Ministers (including Parliamentary Secretaries) attending Cabinet or Cabinet committee meetings
must, in relation to the matters under discussion, declare any private interests which give rise to, or are
likely to give rise to, a conflict with their public duties. Generally, declarations should be made in all
cases where an interest exists which could not be said to be shared with the rest of the community.
88. Ministers must adopt a broad interpretation of the requirement and take into account pecuniary
and non-pecuniary interests, the interests of family members and all interests of their own when
considering whether there is a conflict (or potential conflict) which should be declared.
89. Ministers need not automatically absent themselves from the discussion; the Chair must decide
whether to exclude the minister or explicitly agree to them taking part in discussions and the decision
(see Annex C – Conduct of Cabinet and Cabinet committee meetings).
Officials attending the Cabinet and Cabinet committee meetings
90. Attendance of officials (other than from the Cabinet Secretariat) at Cabinet committee meetings
is kept to a minimum in order to ensure the proper emphasis on the role of ministers in the peak
decision-making forum of the Government.
91. PM&C provides the official note takers and attendants to both Cabinet and Cabinet committees
(see Annex C – Conduct of Cabinet and Cabinet committee meetings). No-one attending Cabinet or
Cabinet committees, other than official note takers and the Cabinet Secretary, should take personal
notes of the discussion.
Cabinet
92. With the exception of official note takers, officials and ministerial advisers do not attend meetings
of the Cabinet. The Prime Minister or Cabinet Secretary may agree to the attendance of an individual to
present an overview of a report, review or inquiry that they were commissioned to undertake, or to
explain a highly technical proposal. The presenter withdraws before ministers begin their deliberations.
93. Note takers are not present for political discussions. Ministers may request that a comment or
discussion, not relevant to policy consideration, not be recorded (see Annex C – Conduct of Cabinet and
Cabinet committee meetings).
Cabinet committees
94. As Cabinet committees are a forum for considering and developing outcomes for Cabinet
consideration or for considering specialised issues, officials and ministerial staff may attend Cabinet
committee meetings. Ministers’ private office staff cannot attend as their minister’s representative.
95. Attendance is, however, limited to the most senior levels of the public service (secretaries and
agency heads) and ministerial staff (chiefs of staff). A minister may be accompanied by one such senior
official from his or her office and one from the department/agency. Requests for attendance by other
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