Turner Judy: Housing Restructuring and Tenancy Matters (Information Matching) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
Turner Judy: Housing Restructuring and Tenancy Matters (Information Matching) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:632;Page:4098] 
JUDY TURNER (Deputy Leader—United Future) 
: 
 I rise on behalf of United Future in support of the third reading of the Housing Restructuring and Tenancy Matters (Information Matching) Amendment Bill. In response to the previous speaker I say that the key word in the title is “matching”. The bill provides the chance to identify folk—folk who receive taxpayer-funded income support and who also receive taxpayer-funded housing support—for the mutual benefit of the taxpayer and of those receiving assistance. That is a win-win situation. For beneficiaries there is the opportunity to check whether they are receiving all the entitlements they are due and for taxpayers there is the chance to identify the few beneficiaries who may unlawfully be trying to enjoy the advantages of a State house and claim entitlement to an accommodation supplement. 
This is not an information-sharing bill; it is an information-matching bill. I think that very important distinction needs to be understood. The information exists on both departments’ files already; therefore the bill does not introduce to either of the two departments information that is surplus to requirements. The flow of information is one-way and is disclosed on a need-to-know basis. New section 67 inserted by clause 5 refers to the purpose of new section 68 which is: “to facilitate the disclosure of information by the Corporation to the department …” and states very clearly the reasons why that can be disclosed. New section 68(1) is also clear that: “the chief executive of the department may from time to time”—as is required—“request the Corporation to supply in respect of persons who are tenants in relation to Corporation housing”. New section 69 specifies very clearly exactly what information is allowed to be passed over. It includes people’s information to make sure that the right people are matched with the right information including rental details; income details which would already have been disclosed by the client to the corporation; and any contact details that might be helpful if the person is no longer renting with the corporation. The bill is very clear about what can be supplied and in what circumstances. The information can be passed only in one direction and in the sensible direction as well. 
There are two consequential amendments to the Privacy Act. Schedule 3 is amended to include reference to the Housing Restructuring and Tenancy Matters Act 1992 and section 97 is amended to include the Housing New Zealand Corporation’s new name as a specified agency. 
As other speakers have said some submitters suggested changes that fell outside the scope of this amendment bill. That signals of course that this bill does not resolve all issues peculiar to the administration of our benefit system or housing assistance system. We could do better and we need to be looking constantly at ways of improving both systems. 
In conclusion I want to counter one contribution that was made although I do not remember at what stage of the debate it arose or even who gave the speech. I was rather disturbed to hear it suggested that the gains in savings from stopping those attempting to double-dip were so insignificant as to almost relegate the bill to be not worthwhile at all. New Zealand enjoys relative to other countries very low levels of corruption and therefore systems that demand honest dealings particularly from those who benefit from taxpayer assistance are hugely important to the ongoing ethos of this country. We want to maintain that standard and I do not think it matters whether the consequential benefit in taxpayer dollars is minimal compared with the honesty that is demanded of people. That is not too high a price to ask in order to maintain systems that are free from corruption. United Future is happy to support the third reading of the bill.