Word of the day

Opacity – the quality of being difficult to understand or know about, especially because things have been intentionally kept secret or made complicated; obscurity of sense; unintelligibility; the characteristic of being difficult to understand or unclear; the quality or state of a body that makes it impervious to the rays of light; the relative capacity of matter to obstruct the transmission of radiant energy; an opaque spot in a normally transparent structure.

Sowell says

The big problem with money created by the government is that those who run the government always face the temptation to create more money and spend it. Whether among ancient kings or modern politicians, this has happened again and again over the centuries, leading to inflation…

— Thomas Sowell Quotes (@ThomasSowell) May 29, 2024

Woman of the day

Woman of the Day postmistress Maureen Flavin born OTD 1923 in Co. Kerry, who changed the course of history on her 21st birthday in 1944. Her highly accurate weather readings persuaded General Dwight D. Eisenhower to postpone the D-Day landings for a crucial 24 hours.

Looking for… pic.twitter.com/Hc0zgtpRx1

— The Attagirls (@TheAttagirls) June 3, 2024

 

But wait there’s more

Andrea Vance reports on more allegations about the misuse of personal data for political advantage:

Te Pāti Māori is facing fresh allegations that personal information collected for the Covid-19 Immunisation Programme was used for political campaigning.

A complaint was laid with the Electoral Commission in November by the Labour Party, which referred a breach of electoral laws to police.

But the agency did not notify either the Ministry of Health, the Ministry for Social Development nor the Office of the Privacy Commissioner about an alleged breach of privacy or misuse of personal information. . . 

The urban marae — which was controversially used as a polling booth in last year’s general election — was run by Takutai Moana Natasha Kemp who pipped incumbent Labour MP Peeni Henare to the Tāmaki Makaurau seat by just 42 votes.

The marae was at the forefront of Auckland’s vaccine rollout, being one of the first sites to offer immunisations. It was then part of a Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency drive to promote last year’s census, between March and June last year.

And then it became a polling booth at last year’s general election, a controversial decision because of Kemp’s candidacy for the Māori seat.

Former MP John Tamihere is chief executive of Whānau Ora, chief executive of the Waipareira Trust, a Māori urban authority that holds Whānau Ora contracts, and TPM president. He declined to answer questions yesterday.

The new allegations centre around the use of shortcodes — text messages used to send reminders or marketing campaigns to mobile phones.

The Labour Party complaint alleged Māori voters in Auckland received two text messages from the shortcode 2661, urging the recipient to vote for Te Pāti Māori.

Labour raised four issues with the text message campaign in the complaint, and asked the Electoral Commission to investigate.

The complaint said: “The text message is a party advertisement for Te Pāti Māori, but does not contain any authorisation statement.

“The text message comes from a four-digit shortcode (2661) which we understand belongs to the Waipareira Trust…that shortcode has been previously used to send people government information about COVID vaccinations and other matters. 

“On that basis, we believe that: People’s rights under the Privacy Act may also have been breached in this campaign, as their personal information obtained by the Waipareira Trust for one purpose (delivering information about government services) appears to have been used for another purpose (promoting a political party).

“…The Trust’s contract with government agencies, which gave them access to personal information such as mobile phone numbers, may also have been breached.”

The complaint also alleged treating — where food, goods or services are offered to influence voters. This is an offence under electoral law, and the Commission received six other complaints including from National and Vision NZ.

At the time, the Commission said the threshold for prosecution is high and did not refer the complaints to police. . . 

If misusing private information and treating, which is an offence under electoral law, aren’t high enough for a complaint, what is?

Did it make a difference to voting?

Polling booth data reveals that Kemp beat former Minister Henare by around 2.6 to 1 (478 votes to 185), while across the electorate the ratio was 1.004 to 1 (10,068 to 10,026. . . 

That’s a significant difference, which David Farrar also noticed:

. . . Here is the margin between the Maori Party candidate and the Labour candidate in each polling place:

• Manurewa Marae (advance): +39%
• Manurewa Marae +16%
• Clendon Community Centre (advance): +6%
• PAK’nSAVE Clendon -6%
• PAK’nSAVE Clendon (advance): -10%
• Clendon Community Centre -40% . . 

Significant differences like that demand further investigation, as do the fresh allegations about misuse of personal data.

The earlier allegations involved Stats NZ, MSD and the Electoral Commission. The fresh ones involve the Ministry of Health.

The whole saga raises serious questions about oversight and accountability and the election outcome in at least one electorate.

There’s an overhang in parliament because Te Pāti Māori won more seats than its party vote entitled it to. Is this the only seat where private data was misused?

Uncovering what went on at the marae is very good journalism but dealing with the allegations can’t be left to the media and the individual entities. They raise serious questions about the election outcome and that needs a comprehensive and public inquiry.

 

 

Public inquiry needed

StatsNZ has announced an independent inquiry into allegations about illegal use of census data at Manuwera Marae:

Stats NZ has asked an independent external party to investigate allegations of misuse of census data collected for the 2023 Census.

Last year Stats NZ partnered with Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency to lift low response rates from Māori in Auckland. The collection operations with non-responding and partial-responding Māori households were led by Te Pae Herenga o Tāmaki. As part of this, Whānau Ora worked with Manurewa Marae.

Late last week Stats NZ received allegations relating to the inappropriate use of census data collected at Manurewa Marae.

“We are taking these allegations very seriously,” Government Statistician and Stats NZ Chief Executive Mark Sowden said.

“It is paramount that the information collected via census forms or any Stats NZ survey is kept private, secure, and confidential, and that it is only used for the purposes in which it is collected.”

The security of this information is so important it is protected by the Data and Statistics Act 2022 and the Privacy Act 2020.

Sowden is encouraging anyone with information relating to the allegations to contact Stats NZ.

“We would encourage anyone with concerns of this nature to contact me via OfficeoftheGSCE@stats.govt.nz. Alternatively, they can contact the Police or the Office of the Privacy Commissioner,” Sowden said. . . 

The Taxpayers’ Union is calling for a public inquiry :

The Taxpayers’ Union is calling on the Government to form a public inquiry under the Inquiries Act to ensure that MSD and Stats NZ are not tasked with reviewing their, alleged, lack of action following complaints from whistleblowers that the Manurewa Marae illegally used census data collation to booster the Māori Party’s electoral data gathering.

“These allegations are on the most serious end in terms of misuse of census information,” said Jordan Williams, a Spokesperson for the Taxpayers’ Union.

“It warrants an independent review to establish both what has happened, and whether agencies have responded with appropriate urgency.”

“Public inquiries have the power to require the production of evidence, to compel witnesses, and to take evidence on oath. Given the seriousness of the allegations reported by the Sunday Star Times over the weekend, that looks to be justified, and necessary to ensure continued public confidence.”

There has been no announcement of action from the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) or the Electoral Commission, both of which were mentioned in Andrea Vance’s publicising the allegations.

But Peeni Henare who lost the seat by just 42 votes, is considering his options and may complain to the Electoral Commission.

The Commission shouldn’t wait for a complaint, there are enough serious allegations in the public arena to make one necessary already.

Other very serious allegations were made yesterday which must prompt MSD into a full and public inquiry.