Labour Leader Helen Clark said today that a Labour-led government would return to the practice of convening Cabinet
meetings weekly.
In March, the Prime Minister, Jenny Shipley, changed the Cabinet timetable to fortnightly meetings. That change was
criticised in a report released on Friday by the Gvernment Aministration Select Committee, which said the Cabinet was
not meeting often enough to do its job properly.
Helen Clark said that the select committee report released last week supported the criticisms she made in March of Mrs
Shipley's decision to halve the number of Cabinet meetings.
"It was wrong to halve the frequency of Cabinet meetings. For the sake of good and efficient government, Cabinet should
meet weekly.
"National's appalling performance over then past six months can, in part, be traced back to Mrs Shipley's decision. The
ongoing shambles might have been less serious if Mrs Shipley had been heeding the advice of her ministers on a more
regular basis.
"It is customary in Westminster-style Parliaments for Cabinets to meet weekly. That is the case in Australia and
Britain.
"Labour will return to weekly Cabinet meetings. We have an extensive work programme mapped out for the incoming
Labour-led government and the new ministers will be working hard to put those policies in place," Helen Clark said.