Jordan Williams: Taxpayers Union Executive Director on calls for Privacy Commissioner to investigate Te Pāti Māori allegations

Te Pāti Māori is facing allegations that personal information collected by a Manurewa marae during Covid immunisations was used for political campaigning. 

The marae was also controversially used as a polling booth in last year’s general election. 

Te Pāti Māori has denied the allegations. 

Taxpayers Union Executive Director, Jordan Williams, told Jack Tame “At the end of the day, this information isn’t in the government’s hands.” 

Williams said “The Census is such a core function of government – and public must have confidence that the data is protected.” 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Jack Team. The Taxpayers Union wants the Privacy Commissioner to
launch a formal investigation into alleged misuse of census data
and vaccination data for election campaigning by Tipati Maudi, John
Tammahetti and the party deny all allegations. STATS n Z
and police are already investigating aspects of the alleged breaches.
In this morning, Employment Representative Alan Holtz suggested on Mike

(00:22):
Coskins Breakfast that various agencies were told of census data
breaches but failed to act. Executive Director of the Taxpayers Union,
Jordan Williams.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Is with us, good evening, Good evening, Jack.

Speaker 1 (00:34):
Why is the Privacy Commissioner the right one to look
into all of this?

Speaker 2 (00:38):
Well? Earlier this week we called for the government to
create a public inquiry under the Inquiries Act because there
for two reasons. The first is that is this correct,
as was suggested this morning on Mike Costkins Show with
the interview with the Employment Advocate, now that there have
been numerous whistleblowers that have gone to the agencies, whether

(01:01):
that's SEMSD, whether that STATS in New Zealand, whether that's
the Electoral Commission and made these allegations it's not appropriate
for those same agencies to be managing or running or
even commissioning independent reviews into what's going on, because at
the end of the day, part of that review has
to be how those whistleblowers were treated. Particularly our concern

(01:25):
is around that censor stats in z data. The second
point is that even if you have the independence of
the review and it's set up with the right terms
of reference to include the way officials handled it, they
don't have the powers that a government at a public
inquiry or the Privacy Commissioner has, and that is to

(01:48):
be able to require the production of documents and information
and subpoena third parties and interview them under oath, because
that is essential if we're going to find out what
has happened, because at the end of the day, this
information is not in the government's hands. It's allegedly it's

(02:09):
these you know, contracted parties to assist with the senses,
et cetera. You know, that's where the information is. And
only by having an investigation that includes the ability to
be able to call them before and the oath are
we going to find out what really happened with some
public confidence.

Speaker 1 (02:27):
Right, So it's a combination of the independence that would
come with having the Privacy Commissioner, but also the Privacy
Commissioner's powers to to compel evidence, to interview people under oath,
that kind of thing. So what would there what?

Speaker 2 (02:41):
Sorry? And it is powerful, I mean that it is
unusual powers unusual in New Zealand to be able to
you know, it's it's the level of powers that almost
the level that the Serious Fraud Office has. But because
of this start, it is the most important from a
from a you know, taxpayers perspective, public policy perspective, the

(03:03):
census is such a core function of government and most
importantly the public having confidence that that data is protected.
We think this does meet that threshold for the Privacy
Commissioner to use those powers and take a good look
and report back to the public either way, so that
we can have confidence in the process.

Speaker 1 (03:25):
I mean important to point out, like I said earlier,
John TAMMERHITTI and the party deny all allegations. So far
they haven't made other public comments. But would it also
be in the interests of those parties, given they claim
they are innocent of any wrongdoing in this case, to
also have the illumination that might come with the Privacy

(03:45):
Commissioner overseeing an inquiry.

Speaker 2 (03:47):
Yeah, I agree. I think that their risks being the
perception of something being political or perhaps the official is
not wanting to get to the bottom of it. If
it has been this degree of this is all too
hard to go away. I think that is in everyone's interest,
including John Tammerherry, that the Maori Party and the associated

(04:11):
entities to have the independence and clarity that I think,
as I say, only a public inquiry or the Privacy
Commissioner can provide. And I think that given the and
probably rightly the unwillingness of the government to set up
an inquiry when it involves a party in the opposition

(04:31):
or an opposition party, I think again all roads of
the back to the Privacy Commissioner's office and this being
the appropriate circumstances for him to launcher an investigation.

Speaker 1 (04:43):
Thank you for your time this evening. That is Jordan Williams,
the executive director of the Taxpayers Union. For more from
Hither Duplessy Allen Drive, listen live to news talks it'd
be from four pm weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.