As a List MP, I have the privilege of addressing a large portfolio, which consists of Internal Affairs, Sports and Recreation, Conservation, Labour and Industrial Relations. Some areas of my work are easy to talk about, like my push for free live coverage of significant sports events. But it's notoften I get the opportunity to talk about Internal Affairs; the portfolio space I refer to as "births, deaths and marriages". This week, however the Electronic Interactions Reform Bill gives me the opportunity to do just that.
A few Government Ministries will be upgrading their customer interaction, providing constituents the opportunity to submit and verify documents electronically, which is fantastic. However, during the Bill's first reading in the House, I did raise concerns around validating personal identification electronically.
Just this week, a New Zealander had her identity electronically stolen and used online by someone in Russia. The situation is unfortunate, and serves as a reminder to closely scrutinize how electronic activity is carried out, to ensure the protection of all New Zealanders. And I look forward to having that opportunity when the Bill enters the select committee process.
While New Zealand First strongly supports the streamlining of processes; we also strongly recommend the need for a human check in the process, especially with something as important as identity verification.
I also raised concerns about the Government's desire "...to permit notice or other documents to be served by e-mail... to be considered received on the second business day of the sent e-mail..." - a big problem if you can't check all of your emails every day.
This is a situation where a person is considered guilty until they can prove themselves innocent, which is unacceptable. I can't imagine that New Zealanders want to be held accountable for every unread e-mail...
And, lastly I suggested we look closely at safeguarding online voting as we consider its inevitable future use.
