This determination, which comes into force on 1 November 2021, sets the rate for the salary of the Governor-General. The determination is made under the Governor-General Act 2010, which provides for the Governor-General’s salary to be determined from time to time by the Remuneration Authority. The Governor-General’s salary is not exempt from income tax and has been set on this basis.

In making this determination, the Authority took into account the mandatory criteria listed in section 18 of the Remuneration Authority Act 1977 (the Act). In addition, section 18A of the Act required the Authority to take into account prevailing adverse economic conditions. This is an important criterion at this time.

Although the local economy has proven to be more resilient than predicted at this time last year, the recurring waves of COVID-19 around the world continue to present a highly volatile and uncertain environment. Many sectors and regions around New Zealand continue to be challenged by localised outbreaks of the virus and by the movements in and out of alert levels. Given the continued global and local uncertainty, the Authority has taken a conservative approach in making this determination and increased the Governor-General’s salary by 1.4% for the 2021/22 year.

The determination replaces the Governor-General (Salary) Determination 2020, which expires on 31 October 2021.

This determination expires on 31 October 2022.