Advising the prime minister in New Zealand: The origins, functions and evolution of the prime minister's advisory group

Abstract

Abstract Unlike many of their foreign counterparts, New Zealand Prime Ministers have been generally satisfied to maintain only meagre support and advisory services. Their main source of non‐bureaucratic policy advice since 1976 has been a small Advisory Group of about eight members located within the Prime Minister's Department This article examines the origins, functions and evolution of the Advisory Group during the past decade or so. In particular, it consider the relationship between the Group and the Wellington bureaucracy, the changes to its operations following the election of the Labour Government in July 1984, and the possible implications of the restructuring of the Prime Minister's Department into two separate offices — the Cabinet Office and the Prime Minister's Office — in April 1987. The article is based on a series of interviews conducted with politicians, civil servants and Advisory Group members during the late 1970s and again in mid 1987.