Hague Kevin: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Hague Kevin: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Sitting date: 20 March 2012. Volume:678;Page:1058. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
2. 
KEVIN HAGUE (Green) 
 to the  
Minister for ACC 
: Does she consider an independent inquiry into ACC’s management of the incident in which personal information relating to 6700 claimants was sent to Bronwyn Pullar is needed; if not why not? 
Hon JUDITH COLLINS (Minister for ACC) 
: 
 Yes; that is why I fully support the Privacy Commissioner undertaking a review of both the August incident when a data spreadsheet was wrongly sent to an ACC claimant who did not return it and of ACC’s privacy policies and processes. 
Kevin Hague 
: Does she not agree that a fully independent inquiry is now needed given that neither ACC’s interim report on the matter nor the scope of the inquiry announced by the Privacy Commissioner are adequate to cover the now public facts of the involvement of former National Party president Michelle Boag and former ACC Minister Nick Smith in the matter? 
Hon JUDITH COLLINS 
: The Office of the Privacy Commissioner is an independent statutory office established under section 12 of the Privacy Act 1993. It is absolutely independent. If the member has any other queries in relation to these issues I suggest he takes them up with the Privacy Commissioner. 
Kevin Hague 
: When did she discover that former Minister for ACC Nick Smith had written a letter on official letterhead drawing attention to his role as Minister for ACC supporting Bronwyn Pullar? 
Hon JUDITH COLLINS 
: I received an Official Information Act request from the  
New Zealand Herald 
 which I think was yesterday alerting me to the fact that there was a letter of reference and today I was able to read that letter because it had been released and was put on to a website. 
Kevin Hague 
: Has former ACC Minister Nick Smith’s letter concerning Ms Pullar been used in any ACC-related claim? 
Hon JUDITH COLLINS 
: I would not be aware of that but I am sure that the Privacy Commissioner’s review will be able to determine any of that. 
Kevin Hague 
: Would she write a letter in support of an ACC claimant while Minister? 
Hon JUDITH COLLINS 
: As Minister for ACC no and I am sure that the member is aware that Dr Smith has said that he regretted the lapse in judgment. [ 
Interruption 
] 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! I want to be able to hear Kevin Hague. 
Kevin Hague 
: What investigation is currently under way into whether the former Minister intervened in any other ACC claims involving friends of his? 
Hon JUDITH COLLINS 
: I am not aware of any. 
Kevin Hague 
: How can the New Zealand public possibly have confidence in the institution of ACC or in ministerial independence unless and until every aspect of what has occurred is independently investigated? 
Hon JUDITH COLLINS 
: The member seems to ignore the fact that the Privacy Commissioner is independent. The terms of reference are still to be decided but my view is that they need to be as wide as the Privacy Commissioner believes they should be and that they should be very full. As the member should have seen by the fact that ACC released its report to me on Friday just gone and I asked ACC to release it on its website straight away I will expect transparency.