Coalition Agreement between the Labour and Alliance Parties
The Labour and Alliance parties will form a coalition government with the following objectives:
1. to implement a policy platform which reduces inequality, is environmentally sustainable, and improves the social and
economic wellbeing of all New Zealanders,
2. to restore public confidence in the political integrity of Parliament and the electoral process,
3. to provide stable and effective long term government for New Zealand without losing the distinctive political
identity of either party, and
4. to act in good faith between the coalition partners.
Processes for coalition management
So far as possible the achievement of the above objectives will be driven by consensus management and the avoidance of
surprises.
The coalition government will operate within the convention of collective cabinet responsibility, subject to the
provisions of this agreement, and the expectation is that cabinet decisions will be taken by consensus.
There will be a standing coalition management committee comprising the two leaders, their deputies and the two senior
whips. Meetings of the committee will be chaired by the Prime Minister. Each party leader may nominate a member of the
party outside parliament to attend meetings as required.
The tasks of the management committee will include dispute resolution and strategic political management of the
coalition.
Where either party leader considers that a distinctive policy matter raises an issue of importance to the party's
political identity, the leader will raise this with the coalition management committee which will resolve an appropriate
course of action, including possibly identifying the matter as one of "party distinction". In this event there may be
public differentiation between the parties in speech and vote which will not be regarded as being in breach of the
convention. Such issues are expected to be infrequent and the parties recognise that dealing with them openly and
responsibly is critical to the credibility of the coalition. Differentiation on such issues will not detract from the
overall acceptance that the two parties are taking joint responsibility for the actions of the government.
The cabinet office manual will be reviewed within the first six months of office to ensure that its procedures
effectively facilitate the management of the coalition government.
Policy formation
The parties accept that the executive is responsible to the people through Parliament, and this requires a government
policy programme which appropriately balances the electoral platforms of the two parties within overall government
policy.
The policy of the government will be determined between the parties on an ongoing basis through the normal processes of
government policy development. The key directions for the first term of the coalition will be outlined in the speech
from the throne at the opening of Parliament.
Executive
The Government will be formed with 20 Ministers inside cabinet of which 16 will be from the Labour party and 4 from the
Alliance. The number of ministerial or undersecretary positions outside cabinet will be agreed between the party
leaders.
Agreed between the coalition parties on 6 December 1999
Rt Hon Helen Clark Jim Anderton
For the Labour Party For the Alliance