Stats NZ boss to step down after Manurewa Marae election inquiry

The inquiry into steps government agencies took to ensure personal Census and Covid vaccination data collected at Manurewa Marae could not be misused has found the agencies failed to put appropriate safeguards in place, and fell short of their responsibility to protect and manage the sharing of personal information.

Government statistician and Stats NZ chief executive Mark Sowden would also stand down next month, the Public Service Commissioner announced on Tuesday.

The Public Service Commission has now asked a number of agencies to temporarily suspend entering new contracts, or extending existing ones, with Te Pou Matakana, the Waipareira Trust, and Manurewa Marae, until it is satisfied the agencies' contracts are fit for purpose, and adequately deal with their obligations.

The inquiry was started last June, following allegations Census and Covid-19 vaccination data collected at the Marae was used to target Māori voters in the Tāmaki Makaurau electorate.

Takutai Tarsh Kemp, the Marae's chief executive at the time, went on to narrowly win the electorate over Labour's Peeni Henare.

The inquiry looked at the specific actions of a number of government agencies.

Stats NZ contracted the Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency to assist with a "last-ditch" attempt to collect Census data from people Stats NZ had been unable to reach.

While the report says the Census was a success due to this, Stats NZ's application of a high-trust model in relation to the collection of the data meant the usual confidentiality protections were not put in place.

The inquiry found Stats NZ had "insufficient" safeguards to protect personal information, leading to a risk personal information collected by the third-parties on Stats NZ's behalf could be used for an improper purpose.

Risks of conflicts, privacy breaches, and poor process were identified but not dealt with.

As a result, Sowden will not seek re-appointment.

"His decision to step down reflects the standard of accountability expected of public service chief executives," Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche said.

The Ministry of Health and Health New Zealand also had no safeguards in place to address possible conflicts of interest arising from the sharing of personal information.

Stats NZ, the Ministry of Health, Health New Zealand, and Te Puni Kōkiri have been asked to temporarily suspend new contracts, renewals, and extensions with the three providers.

Whether the data collected was actually misused for electoral purposes was outside the scope of the inquiry, but has been referred to other authorities for investigation.

Election result called into question

Labour leader Chris Hipkins called the election result in the Tamaki Makaurau seat "unfair" following the scathing report.

"I think the fact that the polling booth was held at Manurewa Marae, with a very active Māori Party presence, really did draw into question the result there - it was such a close result."

Hipkins added New Zealand's international reputation when it came to fair elections could be at risk due to the findings of the investigation, and said it was a "warning shot" to all government agencies about handling personal data.

"It's an alarm bell, it's a warning sign. I think we can really tighten this up and I think we must. I think it's vitally important that our elections are scrupulously independent."

Hipkins said globally people were more reluctant to take part in processes like the Census, and this sort of finding will only make that worse.

"Public confidence is vital to the integrity of the Census process."

He said Labour would also fully support the government launching an inquiry into the Electoral Commission. The Electoral Commission did not fall under the scope of this review, but Hipkins said he thinks it should be investigated.

"It doesn't fall within the purview of the Public Service Commission, the Electoral Commission sits outside of that. So if the government wanted to launch a further investigation, they'd have our full support to do that."

Prime minister 'shocked'

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the public sector's handling of the data was an unacceptable breach of public trust.

After the report was released, he said he wanted to see accountability coming from the top.

"I was shocked. I want to see accountability from the top from CEOs making sure that processes are being followed and that organisations are being well-managed.

"We need to make sure that protocols around data being managed is everywhere across the system."

Luxon said Sowden had made "the right decision to move on", and he was "absolutely confident" other public sector chief executives had got the message it would not be allowed to happen again.

Asked about how it could affect New Zealand's reputation, he said the country had always prided itself on transparency and governance, and the report was a "very big wake-up call" for the public sector.

He said Sir Brian was determined to restore the public's trust in the public service.

"He understands it, you've seen those actions in his tone today. He is driving action into the public service exactly as he should. Kiwis deserve to know their data will be safe and also their money's going to be well managed.

"We need to make sure that Kiwis can restore their trust in the public service, and of course that's a hallmark of why people want to invest in New Zealand and what's made New Zealand so good in this space for so long. So it's a very big wake-up call and it's important that every agency registers it."

Privacy commissioner probe

Privacy Commissioner Michael Webster said it showed government agencies must be better at protecting people's privacy.

"New Zealanders need to be confident that when they do activities, like filling in their Census form, or giving over information for medical services, that their information is collected, used, and shared as the law outlines it should be," he said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon.

"The Privacy Act is very clear that agencies collecting personal information need to keep it safe and treat it with care. This responsibility extends to the use of third-party service providers.

"Agencies need to be confident that personal information is protected wherever and whatever organisation is handling it."

Webster said work on a new information sharing standard was underway, which would support "the information stewardship framework at the core of the Privacy Act".

"It's important people can trust that their information is treated with care. In our 2024 privacy survey, the percentage of people who said they are 'more concerned' about privacy issues over the last few years has increased to 55 percent," up 14 percent on two years earlier.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner will now be looking into:

• whether systems and controls were appropriate for personal data following its transmission by Te Whatu Ora, the Ministry of Health and Stats NZ to service providers
• whether there were appropriate means in place for these public agencies to be confident that their service providers were meeting their contractual privacy requirements
• whether personal information was collected or used by Manurewa Marae for unauthorised purposes
• whether separation of personal data from Census data was maintained at Manurewa Marae, and whether privacy statements were adequate to inform people about the use of their information.

Fears of impact on other marae

The chief executive of South Auckland's Papakura Marae told RNZ the report could impact the city's broader marae network.

"The implication on marae - like us here at Papakura - is huge, particularly if government are going to be looking harder at us in terms of approving funding," Tony Kake said.

"We're 80 to 90 percent funded through government contracts, so, it has a ripple effect for organisations like us who are just trying to mahi the mahi and do the hard yards.

"It's already hard enough to get through the gate... let alone have this over our heads. It just raises that percentage of doubt when we're being considered for future funding."

He pointed Papakura Marae's own polling success as an example of why agencies should work closer with marae.

"We were the second-highest polling booth at the elections in Papakura in 2023... and its not because of conflicts of interest or anything like that. It is because we're trusted, we're well-known, we manāki our whānau. In return they felt comfortable coming here.

"In fact, we had a lot of new people coming here because they had never been to a marae in Papakura before."

Kake said while marae around Auckland work together frequently, there were strict protocols in place around data sharing.

"We're well informed of each other and support each [other], but we're very clear around the use of confidential information - in fact it's a code of conduct we have.

"Kia ora to Manurewa Marae. If the result of this is that you come out clean… all goods. We never had any doubt in the first place."

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