Calder Cam: Privacy (Information Sharing) Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Calder Cam: Privacy (Information Sharing) Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 08 February 2012. Volume:677;Page:237. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Dr CAM CALDER (National) 
: 
 It is a great pleasure to rise to speak briefly on the Privacy (Information Sharing) Bill. As I see it this bill is about honouring the trust the Government has in holding information on an individual. It is also about breaking open the silos of information—shattering those silos of information to allow better sharing of information. This is a Government that actually values trust. We delivered on every one of the policies we made in 2008 and we were rewarded with a significant increase in our percentage of the vote as a result. We value the trust of the electorate. 
One of our major priorities in the forthcoming electoral cycle is as we have said that we want to rebuild Christchurch. We want to get a more competitive and productive economy. We are going to fiscally manage the Government’s finances so as to get out of debt earlier. We are also going to get better value from the public services. Now the previous speaker could not see the relationship between that and actually delivering services to people who need them and this is one of our major thrusts.  
We have announced a high-powered ministerial team to address poverty. We are aware in this Government that the global financial crisis has impacted more on the disadvantaged in society than on others. It is inevitable. I am walking around the streets of Manurewa speaking to the people in the Manurewa community and I am hearing the difficulties they are facing. In our first term of course we improved the participation options for them in early childhood education. We gave them greater opportunities to get necessary health care sooner more conveniently of course and we are addressing the Third World rates of rheumatic fever that we inherited in that community. One of the things that we need to make sure is that these most vulnerable kiddies—the ones we are dealing with—are not falling through the cracks.  
Asenati Lole-Taylor 
: They are.  
Dr CAM CALDER 
: You are right—you are absolutely right. They are they have been and what we wish to do is reduce the chances of that happening so the Ministers of Education Social Development Health and Housing—I have the privilege of sitting right next to the Minister of Housing from the Government—and their agencies will be able to share information more readily. How will they do this? The bill amends the Privacy Act to improve public service delivery by introducing two new mechanisms for better smarter information-sharing. These can lead to more integrated services reduced duplication and lower information-handling costs.  
What are the two key improvements? We have heard them mentioned in the past by some of the previous speakers. I think it is valid. It is about widening the definition or the exception to allow the use and disclosure of personal information when there is a serious threat to public health or safety or the life or health of an individual. Currently that threat must be imminent. Who is a clairvoyant? Who can tell when the threat is going to occur? I think the reality is that moving to the definition of “serious threat” actually means that the damage to the vulnerable is less likely to occur. The second innovation is that a new mechanism will be inserted to make provision for the approval of information-sharing agreements by Order in Council so if there is a problem it can be dealt with expeditiously. 
I did talk about honouring trust of course and if you are holding information on somebody and there is a failure of security in sharing that information there is inaccurate information or there is use of that information in ways that are not anticipated by the individual that is a betrayal of that trust. So in order to honour that trust to make sure that does not happen and to ensure that any resulting intrusions into personal privacy are minimised the bill sets out the required content for information-sharing agreements and the process for their approval which will include consultation with the Privacy Commissioner and other interested parties.  
The bill sets out safeguards to ensure that approved information-sharing agreements operate transparently and consistently with their intent. This bill—and we have heard from Charles Chauvel that it draws upon a lot of in-depth work by the Law Commission—addresses a very serious issue in our community. It will lead to better outcomes. I commend this bill to the House.