Peter Dunne has made yet another astonishing flip-flop – this time on his support for an inquiry into data breaches, says Labour’s Associate ICT spokesperson Clare Curran.

“Last year Peter Dunne promised to support my private member’s bill, the Electronic Data Safety Bill that would establish a Special Commission of Inquiry into the spate of disastrous data breaches across government.

“But now he is back in his cosy ministerial office, propping up John Key’s Government, all his privacy worries have magically melted away. He’s flip-flopped his way back into that comfy minister’s chair.

“What’s most astonishing is that he is now the Minister of Internal Affairs. It’s his job to care about data breaches.

“My bill is before the House today and has the support of all Opposition parties, and the Māori Party.

“But today Peter Dunne’s Chief of Staff told my office that, ‘after he indicated his support for your bill (13th of May), the minister in charge at the time, either Chris Tremain or Judith Collins, he can’t remember, approached him and indicated the concerns he had that he thought your bill would address would be addressed by other legislation sponsored by the Government. He claims that on the 28th of May, he told the Government that he would not be supporting your bill and he stands by that (second) promise now’.

“This is all terribly convenient as he never indicated his change of mind to me until today, after numerous approaches to his office and to him personally.

“Peter Dunne’s hypocrisy knows no bounds. He rails against the system that compromised his own privacy, but ducks for cover when it comes to supporting an independent inquiry into the compromising of hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders’ personal data,” says Clare Curran.

ENDS

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