Martin TraceyELECTRONIC INTERACTIONS REFORM BILLThird ReadingHon TRACEY MARTIN (Minister of Internal Affairs): Kia ora Madam Deputy Speaker. Thank you very much. I move That the Electronic Interactions Reform Bill be now read a third time.The Electronic Interactions Reform Bill amends and modernises 17 pieces of legislation—Hon Peeni Henare: How many?Hon TRACEY MARTIN: —17—and contributes to the efforts to meet New Zealanders' expectations to interact with Government digitally. As a brief summary the bill comprises four parts. Part 1 amends the Births Deaths Marriages and Relationships Registration Act 1995—the core of what New Zealanders use as their identifiers—the Marriage Act 1955 and the Civil Union Act 2004 to allow individuals to apply electronically for certain services such as applying for a marriage or civil union licence. This would provide an alternative to physically going to an office to complete a statutory declaration.Part 2 of the bill amends the Electronic Identity Verification Act 2012 to allow consent-based use of an individual's photograph. This photograph is collected as part of the application process for a RealMe-verified identity.Part 3 of the bill amends 11 Acts relating to the commerce and consumer affairs portfolio to expressly allow certain types of notices to be served by email. Part 3 also makes amendments to the current requirements for an individual or business to appear before Government agencies for an interview. These amendments will allow the requirements to be met using an audio or video link to conduct these interactions remotely where both the individual and the agency agree.Part 4 of the bill amends the Conservation Act 1987 to ensure that fishing and game-hunting licence holders can vote online in Fish & Game council elections if they wish. Part 4 of the bill also amends the Wildlife Act 1953 to allow the image of the game bird habitat stamp to be incorporated within a game-hunting licence. This would instead require a physical stamp to be adhered to each licence. This change will help the online sale of licences and respond to anticipated future demand for digital licences. This may even become accessible through portable electronic devices.The bill was introduced to the House on 21 September 2016 and referred to the Government Administration Committee on 13 October 2016. I thank the members of that committee for their careful consideration of the bill and the submissions made on it and for the constructive amendments they made which have certainly improved the bill.The committee reported back to the House on 12 April 2017 and the bill had its second reading on 28 November 2017. I am very pleased that this bill has been able to move through its remaining stages rapidly so that we can soon put the bill into effect and begin to realise the benefits it will bring.I welcome members' active engagement in debating the bill's provisions during the committee of the whole House. Members quite rightly noted that the bill makes a number of important changes that will affect how New Zealanders interact with Government using modern digital tools. I thank the Government members particularly for the number of questions the probing that they did during the committee stage so that all the concerns of New Zealanders could be voiced and articulated and answered during that period of time.In particular members debated the use of email notices enabled by the amendments in Part 3 of the bill. Members of the Government discussed the potential impact of the changes on recipients of these notices and the circumstances in which agencies could use email notices. I would like to reiterate that the select committee recommended an important change to the provisions in Part 3 so that agencies needed to prove that an email notice was properly sent to an email address that is actively used by an intended recipient. This clarifies that agencies have obligations when sending their communications instead of just placing the burden on the recipient to prove they did not receive the email.Even if an agency can prove that the email address is actively used the recipient will still be able to rebut the presumption of receipt by providing the relevant agency with appropriate evidence. Providing evidence may involve the recipient making a statutory declaration making it clear that the email was not received. This aligns with the current legal position that applies to non-electronic methods of sending these types of notices.But I do acknowledge the points made in the House that for example many people have multiple email addresses and may not check their accounts every day. So I expect that responsible departments such as the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment will develop policies and guidelines on the use of email notices to help ensure recipients are made aware of the relevant notifications. These policies may cover aspects such as ensuring the email is marked as being important so that it is not lost among recipients' other emails the frequency of sending reminder notices before compliance action is taken and using emails along with other service methods.Hon Peeni Henare: Common sense.Hon TRACEY MARTIN: Absolutely common sense. The members also discussed online voting in Fish & Game council elections. I agree about the importance of ensuring the integrity of the voting system—and this was mentioned on a number of occasions. It will be critical that careful consideration is given to security and assurance matters. Appropriate requirements will be set in place by updating the regulations that govern Fish & Game council elections. I anticipate that these requirements will be informed by any wider developments with online voting in New Zealand.More broadly I am pleased that Government members noted the importance of ensuring a wide range of New Zealanders can access the digital services enabled by the bill. One of the Government's priorities is to take action to expand digital inclusion to ensure all New Zealanders can take advantage of the digital technologies that are playing an increasingly important role in their lives.To conclude I would like to acknowledge those individuals who took the time to make submissions on the bill the members of the former Government Administration Committee for their efforts in considering the bill and those members of the House that constructively engaged in conversation and debate on this bill at all its stages particularly the committee of the whole House.The passing of this bill will benefit New Zealand because it will enable New Zealanders to complete more interactions with the Government digitally. It is an important contribution to the ongoing efforts across Government to provide better services to the people of New Zealand—something this Government is committed to. I commend the Electronic Interactions Reform Bill to the House.