Imagine Parliament passes a Schools Act “to promote the establishment of schools for the benefit of New Zealand”.

Parliament is careful. It specifies exactly what the minister must consider before approving a new school: the operator’s financial capability, site safety, compliance history and consultation with local iwi. There is no general discretion. There are no open-ended criteria.

A proposal comes before the minister. She works through the statutory criteria. The operator is financially sound. The site is safe. The compliance history is clean. Local iwi have been consulted. She approves the school.

To read the article on the LawNews website, click here.