Turei Metiria: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Turei Metiria: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
[Sitting date: 16 October 2012. Volume:684;Page:5798. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
2. 
METIRIA TUREI (Co-Leader—Green) 
 to the  
Minister for Social Development 
: Does she have confidence that the Ministry of Social Development can keep private information it holds confidential? 
Hon PAULA BENNETT (Minister for Social Development) 
: 
 In relation to the Work and Income kiosks I would have to say no. As the member will be aware there is an independent investigation into that matter. 
Metiria Turei 
: Prior to her announcement of the vulnerable kids information system in the white paper did the Minister ensure that her ministry could keep information about our most vulnerable children confidential given that her ministry was advised in April 2011 that this risk existed in Work and Income offices? 
Hon PAULA BENNETT 
: In relation to the vulnerable kids information system I had many meetings not just with my own department on that but on what the security would be around it. I have got at least 18 months to 2 years to actually put up a prototype and to work through what those experts in security will be around it. We had made the decision previous to this week that we would have an experts advisory group that would ensure that information was kept secure. 
Metiria Turei 
: Given that she herself has leaked private details about beneficiaries to the public contrary to the Privacy Act will she take personal responsibility for creating the cavalier attitude to privacy now evident within her office and her ministry? 
Hon PAULA BENNETT 
: I have not leaked private information about individuals. 
Metiria Turei 
: Did she or any of her staff have any involvement in the leak of Ira Bailey’s name to the media? 
Hon PAULA BENNETT 
: Not to my knowledge no. 
Metiria Turei 
: Will she investigate whether any Ministry of Social Development staff in her office or in the Ministry of Social Development generally were involved in the leak of Ira Bailey’s name to the media; if not is this because she herself has exhibited such a cavalier attitude to the protection of the privacy of individuals? 
Hon PAULA BENNETT 
: To be fair right now my ministry and I are very concerned about people’s personal information being made available through the kiosks. That is our focus; that is the seriousness with which we are taking that. I have zero interest in going on a bit of a witch hunt at the moment. I want to get to the core of what this problem is. I want to fix it and I want the public to have assurances that that is what we are concentrating on. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Metiria Turei. [ 
Interruption 
] Order! Order! I want to hear Metiria Turei’s question. 
Metiria Turei 
: Does the Minister accept that her failure to respect and protect private information has now exposed thousands of vulnerable New Zealand children to further risk of harm and abuse? 
Hon PAULA BENNETT 
: No. 
Metiria Turei 
: How can New Zealanders trust her oversight of her ministry’s privacy systems when she herself has revealed blatant disregard for privacy has leaked the information—private information—of individuals to the public and was not aware that her own kiosks posed such an enormous risk to vulnerable children and in the midst of the biggest privacy drama someone in her office or in her ministry may be responsible for the leaking of private citizens’ information to the media? 
Hon PAULA BENNETT 
: Quite frankly I do not quite know where to start on the presumptions that were in the member’s question. So one is that Mr Ira Bailey phoned into the ministry did not ask that his information be kept confidential or anything else and now that his name is out there—and a lot of people knew his name and knew that he had access to that—it is all of a sudden a leak right? It did not come from me. I did not leak this information so I actually take that as being factually incorrect. I have not leaked people’s information previously. I think the member should concentrate on what is really important here and I think that we are taking this very seriously as we should. As soon as we knew this on Sunday and it came out we locked all systems down. We are concentrating right now on restoring the public’s confidence in our ability to hold information.