Lees-Galloway IainHon IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY (Minister of Immigration): Thank you very much Madam Chairperson Tolley. It's a pleasure to be able to participate in the debate on the information disclosure aspects of this Customs and Excise Bill. I intend to speak with some particularity to clause 293 but before I do that I would like to make some general statements about the information disclosure aspects of this bill. Obviously our Customs Service has the power to collect an enormous quantity of information and data not just about goods and items that cross our border but about people as they cross our border. It is a rich source of information and it is appropriate that the Government judiciously make that information available for other purposes. But it is certainly incredibly important that judicious" is the keyword here. We must take extreme care and caution with the information that is gathered about people how that information is shared with other Government agencies and with the private sector and how that information is used. I believe that these aspects of this bill warrant significant scrutiny by Parliament. It may appear to some members that this is reasonably non-controversial. There's certainly agreement across the House about these aspects but I think it is our duty as representatives of the New Zealand public to ensure that we scrutinise this bill closely given the nature of the powers that this legislation provides to not just the Customs Service but other Government agencies and our ability to use the information that we collect about people. For instance information that is collected by the Customs Service can be used in the administration of the Student Loan Scheme Act—you know personal information about people to be able to enforce aspects of that legislation. Simon O'Connor: You're doing well mate—keep going.Alastair Scott: Only two minutes and 26 seconds to go.Hon IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY: There's considerably more than two minutes to go I can assure you gentlemen. It also can be used in the recovery of financial support under the Child Support Act. It can be used in verifying people's benefit entitlements. So it is very personal and private information—absolutely appropriate uses but it's very important that we as a Parliament are satisfied that this legislation is carefully crafted and able to ensure that we protect people's privacy and we use that information appropriately. As I said I wish to speak particularly to clause 293 which deals with the direct access to information for purposes other than the specified purposes that other clauses relate to. This allows for Government agencies to share information that supports the detection investigation prosecution and punishment of various offences; the detection and investigation of suspected or actual terrorist acts or the facilitation of terrorist acts; the protection of national security; the processing of international passengers; the protection of border security; the protection of public revenue; and the protection of public health and safety. Obviously as Minister of Immigration I have considerable interest in this information-sharing ability. As Minister I am regularly briefed on action that is taken by our border services to ensure the integrity of our border to ensure the integrity of our immigration system and to ensure that people who wish to attempt to enter New Zealand for unscrupulous purposes or who are unable to verify the validity of their intentions for trying to enter New Zealand are able to be in some cases turned away or are able to be processed in an appropriate manner. Now the ability to do that is of course incredibly and heavily reliant on the ability to gather data from various sources about those people—heavily reliant on the ability to collect that information. So the ability to collect and share that information is important but it is as I say vital that we have the right protections in place. I am pleased to see that the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee saw fit to elevate the responsibility for entering into these types of data-sharing agreements from the chief executive level to the ministerial level. We as Ministers as elected members of Parliament have that accountability to the people of New Zealand in a much greater way than even a chief executive as senior they are as great the level of accountability that they have the levels of responsibility—[Interruption] Two members are heading off to a leadership meeting I think. It is important that it's actually the elected officials the elected representatives who are able to enter into this type of arrangement.It's also important that the Privacy Commissioner must be consulted—so it's not an option for Ministers entering into these agreements. The Privacy Commissioner must be consulted and Ministers must have regard to any comments received from the Privacy Commissioner on the proposed agreement. Again I think in the 21st century when people's data is one of the most sought-after commodities available in the 21st century it's incredibly important that we make sure that those safeguards are included in there.Legislation also prescribes what these written agreements between Ministers must include such as which databases may be accessed the particular types or class of information that may be accessed and importantly the purpose for which that information can be accessed. We have seen this in the past—previous Governments that have been a little loose with the purpose for which they were using information. Perhaps frankly they have misused and abused the access to information that we have as a Parliament and as a Government and it is important that the exact purpose for which information can be shared for which that information can be accessed is set out in those agreements and that we don't have creep beyond what those specified purposes are.If once an agreed purpose is set in place it is determined that maybe it would be useful for the Government—that there is a genuine and useful reason for going beyond the purposes that are agreed in those initial agreements between Ministers—then Ministers need to come back to the table set out that new purpose and work with the Privacy Commissioner to make sure that that is a reasonable and sensible purpose because we cannot allow information to be used incorrectly or inappropriately by people who are in a position of significant power.Those agreements must also set out how the information is to be accessed the designations of the people within the Government agency who will be able to access those databases the way the records are to be kept safeguards that are to be applied etc. So this is all about making sure that we have the appropriate level of oversight the appropriate safeguards in place to ensure that where this information is being shared it is for the specific purposes laid out in the Act. The Act is actually quite precise in terms of the exact reasons that this information can be shared. I think that is incredibly important and I think that the improvements that have been made the changes that have been made by the select committee do improve the bill and they do go a long way to protecting the privacy of individuals.So with those comments on this specific part of the aspects of the bill that deal with information disclosure I'm happy to conclude my contribution there but I suspect that other members have considerably more to say on this part of the bill."