Reserves Act 1977

Administration

10: Delegation of Minister's powers

You could also call this:

"The Minister can share their jobs with others to help get things done."

The Minister can give some of their powers to other people or groups, like a committee or a local authority. You can think of the Minister as a person who has a lot of jobs to do, and they can ask others to help them with some of those jobs. The Minister can choose who they want to give these powers to, and they can say what specific jobs they want them to do.

The Minister can give powers to a specific person, or to someone who has a certain job in the government department. When the Minister gives powers to someone, that person can use those powers as if the Minister had given them the job directly. The Minister can also give directions on how they want the job to be done.

If someone is doing a job that the Minister gave them, you can assume they are doing it correctly unless someone can prove otherwise. The Minister can take back the powers they gave to someone at any time, but that won't change anything that was already done using those powers. Even if the Minister gives powers to someone else, they can still do the job themselves if they want to.

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This page was last updated on 18 September 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM444472.

Topics:

Government and voting > Government departments

9: Committees, or

"People helping the Minister make decisions about reserves"

11: Department may engage persons on contract, or

"The Department can hire people to work for them on a contract to help get jobs done."

Part 1Administration

10Delegation of Minister's powers

The Minister may from time to time delegate any of his or her powers and functions under this Act (not being the power to approve any bylaw) to any individual, committee, body, local authority, or organisation, or to any officer or officers of the Department specified by the Minister, either as to matters within his or her jurisdiction generally, or in any particular case or matter, or any particular class of cases or matters, or in respect of any reserve or reserves.
The officer or officers referred to in subsection (1) may be an officer or officers referred to by name or the officer or officers who for the time being and from time to time hold specified positions in the Department.
Subject to any general or special directions given by the Minister, any person, committee, body, local authority, organisation, or officer to which or to whom any powers have been so delegated may exercise those powers in the same manner and with the same effect as if they had been directly conferred on that person, committee, body, local authority, organisation, or officer by this Act and not by delegation.
Every person, committee, body, local authority, organisation, or officer purporting to act under any delegation under this section shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be presumed to be acting within the terms of the delegation.
Any such delegation may at any time be revoked by the Minister in whole or in any part, but that revocation shall not affect in any way anything done under the delegated authority.
No such delegation shall prevent the exercise by the Minister himself or herself of any of the powers and functions conferred on him or her by this Act.