Auchinvole Chris: Identity Information Confirmation Bill — Second Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Auchinvole Chris: Identity Information Confirmation Bill — Second Reading 
[Sitting date: 29 August 2012. Volume:683;Page:4975. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE (National) 
: 
 This bill the Identity Information Confirmation Bill fits the same description I have used before. It is a grunty little bill and it has a purpose. I join with the other speakers on both sides of the House in encouraging Parliament to adopt this bill in fast order. It is not always when you are speaking on a bill that you suddenly realise the relevance of it to your own situation but with this particular bill should members of the public be listening and wondering how it would work I can actually give an illustration. 
The illustration was some years ago. I was in Auckland. I had been to a pay-as-you-go gymnasium a well known gymnasium in Auckland. Unfortunately at that particular time there was a gentleman operating in the building which resulted in theft. He did things fairly quickly. He did not just steal your wallet; he stole a pair of your trousers. It was quick—you simply go in to the changing room and see who is there. As soon as they have gone out you go to their locker spring the locker grab the trousers put them in your bag and walk out. 
So picture this if you will. I come back I have my shower I go to get dressed I put my shirt on and suddenly I have got no strides. So I go up to the reception centre and say: “I’ve lost my breeks.” or you do if you are a Scottish person. And they say: “How do you mean?”. So you say: “Well my trousers have been nicked.” And they say: “Oh God not again. We think we know who did it.” So I said: “Well would you mind asking them if I could have my trousers back.” It was a brand new suit bought from a department store in Auckland— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Hang on I lost the beginning of the story. Where did the member lose his trousers? 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: In a gymnasium. All right? This guy was operating— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: That’s better. That’s better. 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: Yeah yeah. Oh it gets— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Hearing the story mid-point didn’t sound that good. 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: It gets worse. It gets worse. 
Michael Woodhouse 
: Never heard them called gymnasiums. 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: He says he has never heard them called gymnasiums. Even though we are in a privileged place I will not give the name of it. It would give the place a bad name. But it was a big commercial— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: Not a very successful gymnasium obviously. 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: A big commercial gymnasium yes. Anyway I lost my breeks. This guy was operating. A young guy was there and he said: “Oh yeah he does it all the time. He comes in waits to see who’s got wallets and things in their pockets and then as soon as you go out he’ll jemmy the locker”. The guy who stole the trousers was a member of a gang. He had his tattoos and everything. I had actually I thought befriended him. But anyway he nicked my breeks. 
So I was standing there at the counter and they said: “We’ll call the police. We know who it was. We will call the police. We’ve had enough of this.” So I said “Righty-o. I don’t mind seeing the police.” So while I waited for the police I phoned the bank—standing in my shorts trainer shoes a shirt and tie and looking ridiculous. So I phone the bank and I say: “I’d like to cancel my credit cards.” They say: “What are the numbers?” and I say: “I don’t know. I haven’t got them. They’ve been stolen.” So I had a protracted conversation. Then the police arrive and they know the individual: “OK but your chances of getting of your stuff back are very limited. What was in your wallet?” I said that he really had not got much really because it was only credit cards a little bit of money— 
Shane Ardern 
: A Scotsman’s wallet. 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: —a Scotsman’s wallet. I said I had cancelled all the cards so they would be no use to him. The policeman looked at me with old world wonder and said: “Oh I think they’ve already been sold Mr Auchinvole. I think they’ve already been sold.” So I said: “Well they’ll be no use to anyone. They’re cancelled.” And he said: “Yeah well we’ll come and see you in a few months and you can tell us how useful they were.” So I gave a light laugh. 
There was one other amusing part. I went to Smith and Caughey’s where I had bought the suit went to the tailor gentlemen’s outfitter very professional people and I said: “I need a certificate.” They said: “Yes sir. What for sir?” So I said: “The suit I bought.” “Oh we remember it it was a—” whatever it was. So I said: “Well the trousers were stolen.” And the guy did not change his expression. He looked straight at me and said: “Were we in them at the time sir?”. 
Anyway I got the insurance for them and then I started to get demands for payment from other department stores which I had never been to in South Auckland. So I phoned up the financial controllers and said: “I have never been to your store and I have got a bill here for thousands.” And they said: “But you opened an account and we sighted your credit card.” They would not relinquish the demands. So I went to see my solicitor and one thing and another and eventually they did relinquish the demands because the age that the guy had given was not in any way related to my age but they would not take my name off the debtor’s list because someone in that name— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: That’s blackmail. That’s blackmail actually. 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE 
: Well yes but with a name like mine—there are not too many Auchinvoles around. It affects your credit rating and all those sorts of things or it could potentially. The point of the story is that had we had this verification system that would not have occurred and the cards would indeed have been valueless. And that is why I think this bill is—I try to give it a practical rendition—a very very useful piece of legislation which in fact in my case would have worked. They did apprehend the person who nicked the trousers. They said he was one of the very very few people they have arrested who actually said nothing. So I wrote him a nice letter hoping that he had a nice time where they sent him.