50Approval of national instrument

1. The Governor-General in Council may, on the recommendation of the Minister, approve a national instrument.

2. Before recommending that a national instrument be approved after having complied with section 46, the Minister must—

3. first, must consider the report and any recommendations made under section 46; and
4. secondly, may—
   1. make any changes, or no changes, to the proposed national instrument as the Minister thinks fit; or
   2. withdraw all or part of the proposed national instrument and give public notice of the withdrawal, including the reasons for the withdrawal.

5. Before recommending a national instrument that makes an amendment under section 62 be approved, the Minister must consider whether it is more appropriate to comply with section 46 to make the amendment.

6. After the national instrument is approved,—

7. the Minister must issue the national instrument by publishing it in accordance with subsection (5); and
8. the Minister must notify every territorial authority and the public that the following documents are available and how they can be accessed:
   1. the chief executive’s report and a summary of their recommendations; and
   2. a summary of Minister’s decision on the recommendations (including reasons for not adopting any recommendations); but
9. in the case of a national instrument that makes an amendment under section 62, paragraph (b) does not apply and the Minister must instead publish their reasons for the amendment on the appropriate internet site.

10. The national instrument must be published on the appropriate internet site despite section 69(1)(c) and (d) of the Legislation Act 2019, unless the Attorney-General directs otherwise.

11. A national instrument is secondary legislation that is not required to be drafted by the Parliamentary Counsel Office.