SpeechHon Dr DAVID CLARK (Minister of Statistics): Thank you Mr Chair. When I know you're in the Chamber Mr Chair I take great pleasure in engaging in the committee stage debates and I've got two lined up in the current session so I look forward to take some quality time engaging with the debates. [Hon Jenny Salesa takes the Chair] And it is with some disappointment that I see you moving to another place in the Chamber Mr Chair. Your presence is always welcomed. But I also delight in Madam Chair being back in the Chamber here to steward our debate on this incredibly important bill. And I do have some introductory comments to make which I hope will outline a response to some of the issues that have been raised in the select committee stage that have been raised in subsequent public debates and which I suspect will want to be worked through carefully here in this Chamber because this is very important legislation and there is a very important debate to have around it.Data and statistics and the insights generated from them are critical to effective democracy decision making and accountability. Timely and accurate data and statistics support equity by informing public policy decisions resource allocation and service design and delivery. The bill we are debating repeals the Statistics Act 1975 and replaces it with a modernised and futureproofed Data and Statistics Act in line with international best practice. It enables a coherent system-wide approach to addressing data gaps and improving the quality of data used for official statistics and research under the leadership of the Government Statistician. As Minister of Statistics I continue to be responsible for specifying the Government's data and statistical priorities or the what" of the statistical production. This mirrors the Minister of Statistics' role in the current legislation. The statistical independence of the Government Statistician is preserved and that is what I would describe as the "how" of statistical production.Statistics will continue to be produced and released free from political interference a fiercely guarded democratic convention and an incredibly important one I would stress. As an example of statistical independence it will be the Statistician who determines the timing of the next census. The primary consideration for deciding whether the next census is in 2023 or 2024 is the viability of the census operation and the corresponding quality of census data. Considering whether to proceed with the census as soon as all relevant information is available is part of due diligence and should be done before investing time and money in activities that cannot be recouped such as launching publicity campaigns and printing millions of forms.More importantly it respects the time effort and goodwill of people and communities that come together to support census delivery and who rightly should expect that Government has considered whether a census is likely to be delivered successfully. Given the pandemic and the lessons from the Canterbury earthquake sequence frankly I think it would be irresponsible not to give the Government Statistician the necessary flexibility. Contingency planning is an important part of effective governance.The bill clarifies the Statistician's ability to delegate their functions under the Public Service Act with enforcement actions unable to be delegated outside the Public Service. Any delegate must comply with all requirements in the bill and the Statistician continues to be both responsible and accountable for actions taken. The bill in its current form removes Officers of Parliament the Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Parliamentary Service from the definition of public sector agency and makes it clear that the Statistician cannot make mandatory requests for data from these bodies. These changes address concerns raised by the Ombudsman and the Auditor-General in their submissions to the select committee.To support transparency the bill requires the Statistician to publish information about delegations outside of Stats NZ including what informed of any such decision. I note that these requirements were added in response to the Privacy Commissioner's late submission at the select committee. Like the Act it replaces the bill only allows Stats NZ to collect data for official statistics and research. To be clear the Statistician can only make mandatory requests for data for official statistics not for research. It doesn't expand the scope of information-gathering powers across Government. In New Zealand sharing of personal information between Government agencies is regulated through agency legislation or agreed information-sharing agreements and information-matching programmes under the Privacy Act.The bill provides a robust framework for enabling safe and appropriate access to data for research to benefit New Zealanders. This is an internationally recognised function of national statistical officers set out in the implementation guidelines for the UN's fundamental principles of official statistics. Research is an important output of statistical agencies globally and incredibly important for the betterment of peoples. It's one of the reasons why of course the Data Iwi Leaders Group has argued in the Mana Ōrite agreement that there should be data collected to fill gaps and so that we produce high-quality research that betters the population outcomes. So removing research from the Act would be against what the UN fundamental principles suggest and against what the Data Iwi Leaders Group are arguing for in their agreement with the Government. So I will challenge in due course that particular Supplementary Order Paper put forward by the Māori Party. To remove research from the Act I think is short-sighted. Like the Privacy Act the bill enables access to data for research subject to strong confidentiality requirements ensuring protection of personal privacy. But the bill goes much further by setting out a comprehensive framework that the Statistician must use when making decisions about access for research. Data may be accessed for the purposes of research and only in accordance with the enforceable confidentiality requirements in the bill. Stats NZ will continue to hold the data with researchers only having access through a secure portal to the data they need for their research. For the first time in New Zealand's history our statistics legislation recognises the relationship between Māori and the Crown and the Government's obligation to work with Māori to ensure that data and statistics meet the needs of Māori iwi and hapū. I do want to acknowledge my associate the Hon Meka Whaitiri for the work that she is leading in that regard on behalf of the Government. Closing data gaps and improving data quality will ensure we make the right decisions to improve outcomes for Māori iwi and hapū. This revised approach will empower Māori iwi and hapū to make decisions that benefit their communities. I'm very mindful of work under way such as work on developing a Māori data governance model. I did consider a proposal put forward to me by the Data Iwi Leaders Group to include a review provision in the bill but ultimately considered this undesirable as I have the ability to review or amend the legislation in my portfolio at any time as does any future Minister of Statistics. Indeed stipulating the timing of a review may unnecessarily curtail productive engagement between Crown and Māori possibly forcing a less than optimal outcome. But I do want to be clear and I have corresponded with the Māori Data Iwi Leaders Group that I am committed to reflecting the outcomes from the Māori data governance work in legislation as appropriate. That work is incredibly important work and I think when it is completed it is entirely appropriate that that is then considered in the context of the new legislation.Given the careful and thorough work of officials and robust consideration by the Governance and Administration Committee I am confident that the bill will ensure high-quality impartial and objective official statistics; provide for trusted collection and use of data for producing statistics and research; and protect the interests of people and organisations through privacy confidentiality and security measures. I want to thank the officials for their careful and thoughtful work on the bill. They been at it since the Hon Craig Foss was the Minister of Statistics. That is when this bill had its genesis. Early decisions were taken under his careful eye. And then I do also want to acknowledge the careful stewardship of the Hon James Shaw too through his time as Minister of Statistics. This bill has been a long time in the making. Obviously the 1975 bill that we're replacing has been around for a while and many of the provisions are carried over. The modernising was necessary and it's taken eight years and officials have worked very hard on it. I thank them for their efforts. I think they have produced a bill which will carry us into the future.I want to thank the Governance and Administration Committee for their thorough consideration of the bill as well and for recommending changes to strengthen and clarify provisions. I want to thank also all those who made submissions. Again as I said at the outset of my comments I think the debate we're having around this bill is a very important one."