Kerekere ElizabethDr ELIZABETH KEREKERE (Green): Kia ora. E te Māngai o te Whare tēnā koutou. Thank you for this opportunity to stand in support of the Data and Statistics Bill which was largely developed by the Hon James Shaw when he was the Minister of Statistics in the last term.After such exuberant speeches from the Government I'm still going to say that this is actually exciting for me as well. I was genuinely surprised that I didn't have to fight anyone in my caucus to get the statistics portfolio. This bill repeals and replaces the Statistics Act which of course was very much out of date. It carries over those provisions that still apply in today's world but brings everything into line with how the world operates now. And since of course the old Act is paper based clarifying how we use digital access and the way that data is collected now I think will make the lives of the staff at Stats New Zealand very very much easier. We are pleased to see that this bill introduces numerous new provisions to ensure our statistics are collected produced and disseminated in line with best international principles and practices.It's long been said that Māori are the most studied people in the world. However when I've travelled around and worked with indigenous peoples in different places they have a similar saying and that is because studying the natives is a core part of colonisation across the globe and even today the bulk of statistics on Māori are deficit-based: how much less educated we are; how much less healthy; how much more convicted; how many more of us in prison; and right now how many of us are not vaccinated and how many do we need to reach 90 percent in each DHB?We're supportive of the bill more explicitly adding the recognition of the Crown's obligations to Te Tiriti o Waitangi—that obligates them to serve Māori interests. We hope this means moving away from that deficit model and building on the work that Stats New Zealand have already done around Māori identity and the prevalence of te reo Māori to look at all the ways that Māori culture and therefore Māori people actually benefit this country. The goal of engaging with Māori early and meaningfully is a good model for every law and every practice in every Government department.We note the explicit clarification of the Government Statistician's professional independence. This is essential because as any researcher knows the quality of the data is everything. It cannot be subject to the machinations of the Government of the day. There are specific provisions accounting for the anonymisation of data—again anything that's going for public release. People should be protected—their data their personal information protected. Those frameworks for safe sharing: we have seen data breaches across different Government departments and once information starts being shared in addition to that then the chance for breaches just multiplies.We note that the Minister of Statistics will no longer need to approve the survey work of other agencies. We really support this. We don't think that that kind of micromanagement is necessary. We think that if a good process is set up then the senior officials in any agency should be able to get on with the work. Needing a set data is critical to be assured of the quality of the information being shared we absolutely agree with especially when other decisions on funding will be made as a result of it.In terms of privacy we really support the transparency requirements on Government agencies to publish information on any data sharing. We should know where information is moving and then having done that if people are using it for independent research and publication that should be made clear as well so we know where that information is moving and what's happened to it. Our main concern is around ethical considerations around State collection and use of data generally to protect against profiling or other unethical modes of use and again that's to protect the privacy of the people whose data we're collecting.We very much oppose unwarranted information-sharing between State databases. While statistics are different this concern links to those wider privacy concerns that we have. The guarantee of safety is important if we want people to share their personal information. We note that in the next census for the first time new questions will be in place to learn more about people who are trans intersex and non-binary. We want our people in our rainbow communities to trust that their information will be safe so we can actually have real data about the numbers the prevalence and the issues facing different parts of our communities. Government agencies have not always been there for rainbow communities and we want to trust that this time they will be. We are relieved that the Privacy Commissioner has not raised any concerns on this draft bill but we see a key role for him in continuing to work with those agencies as we implement this new legislation.So the bill appears to strengthen the processes that govern data and State collection of that and it requires them to balance the benefits of that data collection and what they might use it for with the cultural and ethical considerations that affect the communities and the people they gather it from. Nō reira we commend this bill to the House. Kia ora.