Estimates Debate — Vote Internal Affairs

I am delighted to be able to speak on Vote Internal Affairs. I have to say that the Minister of Internal Affairs has been very disappointing. The Minister was in charge of a Fire Service review that crashed and burned, and he did not even have the intelligence to ensure that a fiscal analysis was undertaken as he tried to progress the review. The Minister cannot see a problem with a Fire Service fleet more than one-third of which is over 20 years old, with an average of 14 fire appliances a year being replaced since 2001. The fire appliances are getting older every day, and there is no way that the replacements can cover the ageing fleet.

The Minister thinks that a regulatory and enforcement team for gambling should be able to involve itself in community and social aspects of gambling, instead of leaving that to contract providers under the Ministry of Health.

The Minister also has oversight of the Charities Commission. What a disaster that has been! Legislation has had to be rushed through the House to cover universities, which were vulnerable, and to cover the delay in the processing of applications, to ensure that not-for-profit organisations are able to enjoy the tax-exempt status that they should have. There is a real question about whether it will cover off applications that are not processed before the end of 2008, because, from the estimates that many people have made based on their understanding of the time frame for processing applications, we are looking at it being somewhere around 2015 before they can all be finished and accomplished, and all of those applications can be processed.

The huge disappointment for me—and it is yet to be felt by the rest of New Zealand—was the Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Amendment Act 2008. I say “Act” because it received the Royal assent on 24 July 2008. I say to people who are listening that they now have 6 months in which to get any information from the Births, Deaths and Marriages registrar that they can, before they may be denied that access. Under the current Act—which disappears in about mid-January, when the new legislation comes into force—anyone can approach the registrar for information and get a printout of it. That is as it should be; that is what a free, open, and democratic society allows.

But let us look at the provisions of the new section 74, in section 27 of the new Act, which comes into force in about mid-January. I take as an example my most excellent colleague Nathan Guy; if he wanted to source some information about another member—or any member of the public—he would see under section 74(1): “Any person may request a Registrar …”. Well, that is fine. That looks pretty good. Section 74(2) states: “A Registrar may comply with a request …”. Well, that is really good, too. We then go through the conditions and we see that section 74(2)(a) states: “the request is in respect of a named person;”, which is fine; section 74(2)(b) states: “the request is for a source document …”, which is fine; section 74(2)(c) states: “the request is made in a manner approved by the Registrar-General;”, which is fine; and section 74(2)(d) states: “the prescribed fee is paid;”, which is fine. Section 74(2)(e) states: “the requirement in subsection (3) is met;”. The requirement is to sign a register, and that is another piece of unnecessary bureaucracy, but, OK, we can do it, though I cannot imagine what the cost to the department will be. Section 74(2)(f) is about a source document. Well, one would not be able to have access to it, because one has to clear some hurdles to do that.

The kicker is in the last subsection of section 74. Section 74(4) states: “This section is subject to sections 75B(2) and 75G to 78H.” I tell people that if they are just coming off the street and wanting to make general enquiries about somebody else, they will not be able to meet the thresholds of section 75B(2) and sections 75G to section 78H. Section 75G is about “Searches for purposes of gathering statistics, or for health, historical, or demographic research”, and there are lots of conditions around that. Public sector agencies may be able to source the information, and one can source it if one is a lawyer or a trustee, or for particular purposes along those lines. But if one is an average Joe Bloggs who wants general information from the Births, Deaths and Marriages registrar, that is looking extremely difficult, if not impossible. It is not clear, at all, how anybody will be able to access general information.

Vote agreed to.

Vote Veterans’ Affairs - Social Development agreed to.

Vote Tourism agreed to.

Vote Conservation agreed to.

Vote Women’s Affairs agreed to.

Vote ACC