57Process for making national policy direction

1. The responsible Minister must prepare a proposed national policy direction (proposal).

2. After preparing the proposal, the Minister must establish, and then use, a process that—

3. the Minister is satisfied gives adequate time and opportunity to the following to make a submission on the proposal:
   1. management agencies; and
   2. the rest of the public; and
4. requires a report and recommendations to be made to the Minister on the submissions and the subject matter of the proposal.

5. When the Minister receives the report and recommendations, the Minister must consider them.

6. If the Minister does not accept a recommendation, the Minister must publish the Minister's reasons on an Internet site maintained by or on behalf of the Ministry.

7. The Minister may then—

8. make changes that the Minister considers appropriate to the proposal or decide to make no changes to it; or
9. withdraw all or part of the proposal and publish the withdrawal, and the reasons for it, on an Internet site maintained by or on behalf of the Ministry.

10. When the Minister has made appropriate changes to the proposal or decided to make no changes to it, the Minister must recommend the approval of the national policy direction to the Governor-General in Council.

11. The Governor-General in Council may approve the national policy direction.

12. As soon as practicable after the Governor-General in Council has approved the national policy direction, the Minister must send a copy of the direction to every management agency and regional council.

13. A national policy direction approved under subsection (7) is secondary legislation (see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for publication requirements).