Ngaro Alfred: Debate on Crown Entities Public Organisations and State Enterprises — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeNgaro Alfred: Debate on Crown Entities Public Organisations and State Enterprises — In Committee[Sitting date: 14 May 2013. Volume:690;Page:9893. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]ALFRED NGARO (National):The wonder and the beauty of select committees is that you get the checks and balances of the different views and I want to acknowledge the view of Mr Little who is over there. I did not quite hear the story about the blind bantam hen though I did hear the comment about the little tugboat that said: “I know I can. I know I can.” I think he might have been recanting his own story and journey around defamation but we are talking about the Office of the Privacy Commissioner and what is important is that we know that the fact is that information is important.The Privacy Commissioner talks about personal data becoming a critical area for business and for the Government. We know that Opposition members were interested in the Office of the Privacy Commissioner because they possibly would hear some meaty stories which they could use in a press release about all the things the office was doing wrong. But what the commissioner said was quite clear. In fact she actually started off with the comment that what we have is equivalent to an ecosystem that is mutating and multiplying constantly before us. She was talking about the whole aspect of information technology and the challenges that it faces to us.The Privacy Commissioner also said—and I want to put this in context—that data breaching of confidential information is nothing new. As the Hon Lianne Dalziel said it is nothing new. In other words it has been happening for a long time. What is new—and the commissioner is correct in saying this—is the intense scrutiny from both the media and the public. We are really clear about the fact that we like the Privacy Commissioner believe that it is important to protect information and to ensure there are rights and responsibilities in terms of protecting information. But at the same time data sharing is important in terms of the needs that are out there and in terms of ensuring there are opportunities for services.The other question is about the aspect of funding being static for over 8 years. In fact what the commissioner actually said is that over consecutive Governments—it is not one Government to blame in one sense—there has been no increase in funding. But what there has been is an increase of 42 percent in applications—8465 inquiries from members of the public and organisations seeking advice on privacy matters and 1142 complaints. That is an increase of 42 percent. But here is the statistic that the Opposition does not quote and it is in commissioner’s the annual report. The Privacy Commissioner said that 95 percent of complaints have been closed—Simon O’Connor: How many?ALFRED NGARO: —within a period of 9 months—95 percent. How do we judge an organisation on its efficiency and its effectiveness? We ask whether it meets its outcomes. [Interruption] Ninety-five percent Mr Little is what the Office of the Privacy Commissioner declared to us. So it does meet its outcomes. It is meeting the needs that it sees.Look when you ask an organisation whether it needs more money whether it would like more money of course it is going to say yes. But what the Privacy Commissioner said was that the fiscal constraints have been positive. This is what the Opposition does not say. The Privacy Commissioner said—and this is what the Opposition does not say—that the fiscal constraints have been positive as they have allowed the commission to focus on its core business. And she said they are doing the business with a completion rate of 95 percent.It is quite clear that the commissioner also commented about information technology. It is a revolution as she said. It is a global ecosystem that is both multiplying and mutating with incredible speed so what we need to do is to take into account and be cognisant of the needs that we face in this. She also talked about—again which you will not hear from the Opposition—shared responsibility and accountability. While the Opposition was looking for somebody to blame and was looking for someone to hold to account she was saying that this is about shared responsibility and shared accountability.Andrew Little: It’s our job. It’s our job to hold you to account.ALFRED NGARO: She wants a culture—and you are absolutely right Mr Little—in New Zealand whereby when we find information that does not belong to us we return it to its rightful owner and where there is a sense of integrity about this. [Interruption] You will not talk about this but it is about shared responsibility and shared accountability.What we heard from the Privacy Commissioner was actually a balanced view. It was not all about the sense of concern—the horses were not getting frightened outside; there was no issue there. However we also share the concern about the vulnerability of people’s information. That is highly important to us. So what we are doing working with the commissioner is ensuring that she is focusing on her core responsibilities and that she is meeting her key performance indicators—a 95 percent completion rate. She is also working with us on the Privacy (Information Sharing) Bill and on the other legislation that we are putting through. We have confidence in the Privacy Commissioner.Report noted.