Clause 4

replace the section heading with —“Directions of Minister, etc.”;

renumber the section as subsection (1) of that section; and

after subsection (1), insert —“(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the Minister may give any direction to the Commission that is necessary in the circumstances if it appears to the Minister to be requisite or expedient to do so —

in the interests of relations with the government of another country; or

in order to —

discharge or facilitate the discharge of an obligation binding on the Government by virtue of it being a member of an international organisation or a party to an international agreement;

attain or facilitate the attainment of any other object the attainment of which is in the Minister’s opinion requisite or expedient in view of the Government being a member of an international organisation or a party to an international agreement; or

enable the Government to become a member of an international organisation or a party to an international agreement.(3) To avoid doubt, the Minister is entitled —

to information in the possession of the Commission; and

where the information is in or on a document, to have, and make and retain copies of, that document.(4) For the purposes of this section, the Minister may request the Commission —

to provide information to the Minister; or

to give the Minister access to information.(5) The Commission must give effect to any direction given to it under subsection (1) or (2) and must comply with a request under subsection (4).(6) The Commission must not disclose any direction given or request made under this section if the Minister notifies the Commission that, in the Minister’s opinion, disclosure of the direction or request is against the public interest.(7) In this section, “information” means information specified, or of a description specified, by the Minister that relates to the functions of the Commission.”.