The granting of the Royal assent signifies the bill has the approval of the Queen, who is New Zealand’s Head of State. In New Zealand, the Royal assent is given by the Governor-General as the Sovereign’s representative.
Bills are proposals to make a new law or to change an existing one. Parliament introduces and debates many bills, which go through several stages in the House of Representatives.
These include introduction, first reading, select committee, second reading, committee of the whole House and third reading. A bill is passed by the House of Representatives when it receives its third reading, but it doesn’t become law until it receives the Royal assent.
After a bill has its third reading, Office of the Clerk staff prepare it for Royal assent. The title is changed from a bill to an Act, and if clauses have been removed or inserted by a select committee or the Committee of the whole House the clauses are re-numbered. All cross-references in the bill are checked and, where appropriate, amended so that they reflect the final numbering of the bill.
The entire bill is read out loud by a member of the House Office staff to a proof reader who carefully checks the assent copy to ensure that it has been printed accurately. It is also independently checked by another senior member of the House Office staff.
When the checking process is complete and any corrections made, the bill is printed “fair”, ready for assent. The Clerk of the House signs two copies of the Act to certify them as a true copy. An advice sheet, respectfully advising the Governor-General to assent to the Act, is signed by the Attorney-General and the Prime Minister (or another senior Minister if the PM is unavailable).
Copies of the bill and the advice sheet are sent to Government House. The Governor-General signs them to grant the Royal assent, and the bill becomes an Act.
If the Governor-General is out of the country, the Administrator of the Government (the Chief Justice or most senior Supreme Court Judge present in New Zealand) may grant the Royal assent.