SpeechHon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (National): Thank you Mr Speaker. Well it is the only one that counts although the Minister of Finance might have a different view on that the Minister of Revenue might have a very different view on that and given the amount of money being racked up on climate change the Minister for Climate Change Issues might also beg to differ.The Minister was probably about 18 months old when Mick Connelly in this Chamber debated the merits of what became the Statistics Act. I'd like to be able to tell members that as a nine-year-old I had my ear tightly pressed against the transistor radio listening to every word that was being debated late at night but I can't. Generally—Andrew Bayly: You would have been a sick puppy if you had.Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE: Well I listened to plenty just not this one sad to say Mr Bayly. But despite the ubiquitous nature of statistics and the statistics legislation this is an important bill which National will support at third reading as it has throughout the process—but with caveats.I think we certainly support the overall goal that the Minister laid out: high-quality data and statistics that enable the Crown to gather information that's so important for the decisions that we need to make about health education police fire and so on—the deployment of resources the understanding of need that is in just about every walk of life. We support the goal of data being collected and stored in a way that maintains the privacy of the individuals and the organisations that give up that information. That is of absolute paramount importance. And we support strong engagement with iwi Māori under the Crown's Treaty obligations to view information as a taonga and to engage meaningfully with iwi on the importance of keeping it secure and using it well. I hope we do those things; I hope this bill when passed does all three of those things and it may well do. But there were a number of very learned people in groups who have expressed concern that it won't do all it sets out to do and it may do some things that it shouldn't do.We kicked around a lot of those concerns in the Governance and Administration Committee and we had a good old chinwag about it in the committee of the whole House last week. I want to commend the Minister for the way in which he engaged with that. You know it has been 47 years since we updated the Statistics Act and it was necessary and appropriate that we did give it a good airing. While we didn't get the sort of changes that I think might have improved the legislation the Minister has in his engagement with the committee put on record I think enough assurance from his perspective that will at least at the start alleviate some of those concerns. So I thank him for that. I think that's a really important part of the legislation-making process. But it also gives a measure I think of where we can monitor the extent to which we're able to protect and use data meaningfully. And where we fall short of that if there is a legislative reason for that I can give this House an assurance that the future National Government will make improvements to it and we won't wait 47 years to do so.Those areas that we heard a lot about in terms of concern—and it came actually down to the fundamental purpose of what we were doing and that was obviously the gathering of statistics. But the issue of research became something of almost a philosophical irritant. I think there is still—within the legislation when it's passed—a disconnect between the purpose as set out in Part 1 and what is actually said further in the bill at what will become section 22. That's OK. I don't think in substance at the start at least that's going to be a particular problem. But I do worry that there could be research creep or data-gathering creep for the purposes of research the like of which we're not actually sure but let's just collect it in case we might need it in the future. I think that is a potential problem. And the manner of the collection of data in the future's going to be a really really interesting one to watch.Administrative data is the term used for the collection of information through other sources that are not the traditional source. I've heard the Minister say that that was how we used to do it in the past and that's where we're kind of heading. I don't agree that we will ever get to a point as the chief statistician has told the select committee where we would not need censuses. I actually think that's not a goal that we should set because the snapshot that we get from the widespread stopping and reflecting on where we are who we are how we identify what we earn how we earn it where we live who we live with—all of those sorts of things I don't think the richness of that data can be got only from administrative data and I think in the context of the legislative framework we set it will be very interesting to see whether or not we get to that point. I don't think we should; I don't think we will. Actually censuses have been taken for over 2000 years—I know that from my elementary biblical studies—and I think they'll continue to do so for a long time yet.On that point the collection of that data and the ability to do that reflects something of a split personality almost in the public. We protect our privacy fiercely on one level and yet we live our lives on social media an open source on another. That makes it quite easy as the Minister has said in terms of corporate organisations seeing the value of that data in the same ways that they would any other assets—it's data they don't have to pay for. And that old saying of If you think the product is free you are the product"—not you Mr Speaker. But that's the kind of really unusual situation we have between our desire for privacy and our living life in the open.Delegation powers was a discussion that we had and a concern that was expressed by a lot of people. I'll be watching this area with interest because there was a lot of concern—but I don't think a lot of it was justified—about the degree to which the chief statistician should be able to delegate powers. Actually he has that power now anyway. And the examples that I think it was the New Zealand Council for Civil Liberties came up with with Police and the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service I don't think is a concern that I would have but I'm going to keep a weather eye on it.The last thing I think that this bill does of course is it gives effect to Census 2023 but now with a condition. That is that the chief statistician on his own initiative can delay Census 2023 to 2024. I think he will. He won't make it completely independently from Cabinet but I don't think he should be making that decision at all. I think the Minister should make that decision according to criteria that isn't difficult to set out and I tried to put it into the bill but there has to be a public engagement on why that should happen. Here's my prediction: we won't have a Census 2023 because I don't think the Government is prepared to take that risk. It was a debacle in 2018. I think Stats New Zealand is still shell-shocked by what went on in 2018 and they're going to kick the can down the road past election 2023 so that at that very crucial time when we realise what a complete pig's ear the Government's made of Census 2023 it'll be in the election season. That's a risk that I don't think this Government is prepared to take.Hon Dr David Clark: Put a decent box of Peregrine on that.Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE: So there we are—well he's preparing the Cabinet paper he's admitted to the House that there is a go/no-go decision we'll see. I've laid it out. I'm not on a ministerial salary so it's not going to be a big bet. But that's my bet anyway.But look it's a very important piece of legislation. It's so important that the good people of Tauranga have come all the way to Wellington to listen to the third reading. I'm sure that's why they're in the gallery!Hon Member: It's all for you.Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE: It's all—that's right. But I should just finish by wishing my friend and colleague Sam Uffindell all the best for his maiden speech and commend the bill to the House."