Constitution Act 1986

The Executive

6: Ministers of Crown to be members of Parliament

You could also call this:

"To be a Minister of the Crown, you must be a member of Parliament."

To be a Minister of the Crown, you must be a member of Parliament. You can only be appointed to this role if you are already a member of Parliament. If you are not a member of Parliament, there are some exceptions that allow you to be appointed as a Minister of the Crown.

If you were a candidate in the previous general election, you can be appointed as a Minister of the Crown, but you must become a member of Parliament within 40 days or you will have to leave the role. You can find more information about this by looking at s 9. If you are already a Minister of the Crown and a member of Parliament, but you stop being a member of Parliament, you can still be a Minister of the Crown for 28 more days.

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This page was last updated on 18 July 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM94219.

Topics:

Government and voting > Government departments

5: Demise of the Crown, or

"What happens to the monarch's jobs and powers when they die"

7: Power of member of Executive Council to exercise Minister's powers, or

"When a Minister is unavailable, an Executive Council member can do their job."

Part 2The Executive

6Ministers of Crown to be members of Parliament

A person may be appointed and may hold office as a member of the Executive Council or as a Minister of the Crown only if that person is a member of Parliament.
Notwithstanding subsection (1),—
a person who is not a member of Parliament may be appointed and may hold office as a member of the Executive Council or as a Minister of the Crown if that person was a candidate for election at the general election of members of the House of Representatives held immediately preceding that person's appointment as a member of the Executive Council or as a Minister of the Crown but shall vacate office at the expiration of the period of 40 days beginning with the date of the appointment unless, within that period, that person becomes a member of Parliament; and
where a person who holds office both as a member of Parliament and as a member of the Executive Council or as a Minister of the Crown ceases to be a member of Parliament, that person may continue to hold office as a member of the Executive Council or as a Minister of the Crown until the expiration of the 28th day after the day on which that person ceases to be a member of Parliament.

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