Public service boss calls in 11 agencies over Te Pāti Māori allegations
Friday, 7 June 2024
Acting public service commissioner Heather Baggott has called in the heads of 11 agencies involved in claims about the misuse of Census and Covid-19 vaccination data, and taxpayers’ money.
But as head of the service she has stopped short of announcing a full inquiry.
Baggott met with the heads of Stats NZ, the Ministry of Health and Health New Zealand, the Ministry of Social Development, the Ministry of Justice, the Department of Internal Affairs, Te Puni Kōkiri, Oranga Tamariki and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, she said in a statement on Friday.
The Electoral Commission and police also attended.
Baggott said it was a first step to ensure the agencies “are acting to examine the recent allegations”.
She said: “These are serious allegations that go to the core of trust and confidence in our public institutions and our democratic processes.
“If true, the allegations represent a serious misuse of citizens' personal information and an unacceptable breach of public trust. It is important for all involved that the facts are established. I encourage anyone with relevant information to contact the appropriate authority.
“It is essential New Zealanders can trust their personal information is secure and not exploited, and trust the integrity of our electoral system.”
There are two official inquiries into allegations surrounding South Auckland’s Manurewa Marae.
Stats NZ, the official data agency, launched an investigation last week after former staff alleged census forms they collected were used to help the marae’s former chief executive, Takutai Moana Natasha Kemp, win the Tāmaki Makaurau seat.
Government Statistician chief executive Mark Sowden said it would be led by consultant Doug Craig, supported by a lawyer, and will cover the contract expectations, obligations and monitoring, and the way in which Whānau Ora staff handled census forms and data.
“We need to understand whether the personal information provided by people was handled appropriately, and in a way that’s consistent with our expectations and with the requirements of the Data and Statistics Act and the Privacy Act,” he said.
The inquiry is expected to be completed by the end of July.
Police confirmed on Thursday they were “making inquiries” into matters relating to Te Pāti Māori after a series of questions over two days. But they said in a statement they were “not in a position to provide any further detail”.
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner has asked the various agencies concerned for further information “to inform … next steps” but is not yet investigating.
The Ministry of Health and Health New Zealand are “seeking urgent assurance” that Covid 19 and other immunisation information was appropriately used and managed, Baggott said.
Oranga Tamariki said it provides funding to both the Waipareira Trust and Manurewa Marae “for contracted services with tamariki and rangatahi…[and] since being made aware of the allegations, Oranga Tamariki is undertaking an internal assurance review.'
It has not sought assurances from either the trust or marae about the protection of personal information.
TPM’s president John Tamihere has “unequivocally” denied the allegations. In a statement, he said the claims are “baseless and simply untrue” and that the party welcomed an investigation.
The Sunday Star-Times first revealed concerns about Census data, which were reported to police by a Ministry of Social Development whistle blower a fortnight ago.
On Wednesday The Post revealed the Labour Party also made a complaint to the Electoral Commission in November about the alleged misuse of cellphone numbers collected to communicate with Auckland Māori about the pandemic immunisation programme.
Labour raised concerns that the four-digit ‘short code’ used for Te Pāti Māori text messages was the same as that used by the Waipareira Trust to send out Covid-19 vaccination messages. The trust is also headed by Tamihere, who is also chief executive of Whānau Ora.
The marae was part of a Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency drive to promote last year’s census, between March and June last year.
Almost eight months ago, the commission referred a complaint to police about a potential breach of electoral law, relating to text messages which did not carry an authorisation statement.
But it did not alert the Ministry of Health, Te Whatu Ora, Ministry for Social Development nor the Office of the Privacy Commissioner about Labour’s allegations about a misuse of data.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has not ruled out holding a government-wide inquiry.
Sowden said the investigation would also consider whether the way Stats NZ provided address information to Whānau Ora met the requirements of the law and Stats NZ policies.
This was not part of the allegations made to the Sunday Star-Times by marae staff.
They claimed hundreds of census forms were photocopied and retained, and that they were asked to enter information into a marae database and a Jotform to be sent to the Waipareira Trust.
Stats NZ provided Whānau Ora with the addresses of non-responding households to make sure that its staff could focus their efforts on people who had not yet completed the census, Sowden said.
Each day Stats NZ created a file that contained the addresses, he said. “The files were shared via a secure folder, with no further access to our systems. A data-sharing agreement outlined the terms and conditions for accessing and using this information.
“We are confident that Whānau Ora, Waipareira Trust, or any other party did not have access to our databases. However, it is still important that this is investigated and assured,” Sowden said.