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Opening Address Annual Passport 5 Nations Conference

Hon Peter Dunne
Minister of Internal Affairs

1 May 2017 Speech

Opening Address Annual Passport 5 Nations Conference

Te Papa, Wellington

Good morning and kia ora koutou.

I am pleased and honoured to open this year’s annual Five Nations Passport Conference which begins today.

Firstly, I would like to extend a very warm welcome to delegates from participating countries here today from: Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and the Republic of Ireland. Thank you for coming all the way to Wellington, New Zealand.

I would also like to acknowledge the presence of the New Zealand delegation and, in particular, thank Maria Robertson, Deputy Chief Executive: Service Delivery and Operations: Department of Internal Affairs for her invitation to speak here today.

New Zealand, by virtue of its small population and geographic isolation, has needed to be creative to meet the changing needs of its people, and their natural disposition to enjoy the economic and recreational benefits of international travel and trade. I want to give you some examples that I think illustrate this fact.

New Zealand, as some of you will already know, introduced the world’s first online passport renewal service in November 2012. Still today my office and the Department of Internal Affairs receive a steady stream of positive feedback, and people often share their delight in social media. Compliments – not complaints!

Last year, that service has been expanded to include the renewal of passports for children and first-time adult applicants who have verified their identity, through our RealMe digital identity service.

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We have also added a variety of new functions to our online passport service.
For example, New Zealanders are now able to request passports urgently and report their passports lost or stolen through the digital channel at any time and from anywhere in the world.

These developments support a New Zealand Government priority, which is to increase the quality and range of digital transactions between New Zealanders and government. I am proud that New Zealand is amongst the world leaders in the area of digital transformation.

We are a founding member of the D5 group of nations, who work together, in a similar vein to this conference, to share ideas and experiences on how governments can make life easier online for citizens.

I am also aware that many of the countries attending here today have also launched or developed online application services. It is heartening to see that many of our international partners are looking to New Zealand as a leader and collaborator in an increasingly digital world.

We recognise that the borderless world of the internet is an exciting opportunity, but physical borders remain in place because there is tension between freedom of movement and the need to control those who wish to exploit this for their own nefarious ends.

The international security situation is constantly changing and remains volatile.
New Zealand moved to counter these threats by updating and strengthening passport legislation through the Passports Act 1992. In November 2015 the Passports Act 1992 was amended to extend the validity of an adult New Zealand passport from five to ten years. Children’s passports continue to be valid for five years, in line with international standards.

The amendments also introduced measures designed to further strengthen the integrity of the issuance and handling of a passport. For example, amending clauses authorised the permanent invalidation and reporting of passports and other travel documents that have been reported lost or stolen as well as those where the validity period has expired, on our electronic document database.

Other clauses refined existing provisions in the Act that already enable the recall and cancellation of passports for specified reasons. The amendments to the Act provide for the travel document database to be flagged when passports have been recalled or cancelled.

This information is then shared with border control agencies quickly under existing arrangements and the passport cannot be used at the border. These steps were taken so that the passport service continues to operate effectively to help New Zealand citizens living all over the world; and provide appropriate safeguards against misuse.

Furthermore, New Zealand’s Parliament recently passed the Intelligence and Security Act 2017. Amongst other things, this provides that I, as Minister of Internal Affairs, may refuse to issue a passport or cancel it for up to three years on the grounds of national security.

For me, as Minister to take this action I must have reasonable cause to believe that the person holding or requesting a passport is a danger to the security of New Zealand. This might be, for example, because it is believed that the person intends to engage in or facilitate a terrorist act.

Such action is not taken lightly but it is a decision I have already taken on a few occasions in order to protect New Zealand and New Zealanders. In each such instance, I weigh very carefully the balance between the legitimate rights and freedoms of the individual against an assessment of the wider national interest.
There is an obvious tension between facilitating international travel and commerce and preventing the misuse of a passport.

Maleficence or misuse of passports may do harm and undermine the rules based society on which we all depend. It is important, then, to balance the need to increase and improve digital transactions between New Zealanders and government, with the need to protect the integrity of important documents such as passports.

Our RealMe digital identity product is a world class solution to this problem.
It is tailored specifically to the New Zealand environment. A RealMe verified identity is free and availale to all New Zealanders and is relatively easy to obtain.
It allows New Zealanders to prove their identity securely and, in a world first, can be used to apply for a person’s very first passport.

RealMe also helps prevent identity fraud.

RealMe is designed to help agencies and organisations reduce identity fraud through the greater confidence it provides in an individual’s identity. RealMe verifies an individual's identity against official government records, then matches that individual against their photo.

There are also processes in place to ensure that once a verified identity has been issued to an individual, their official records cannot then be used by a fraudster to issue a second one.

So what are the next steps and how do we get there? In my view, there is further scope to develop greater digital linkages between government agencies that directly benefit the customer. That is why New Zealand is seeking transform the system of service delivery by connecting citizen’s with government agencies in more coherent and joined-up way.

We will do this by taking a customer centric view of service design that incorporates the trusted data held by agencies such as the Department of Internal Affairs with innovative digital solutions. This could mean, for example, a greater use of mobile technology to connect New Zealanders with the services that they need when they need them.

This approach to minimise and digitise New Zealander’s interactions with government will take careful consideration and skill to implement. It will also take a focus on ensuring that the capacity and capability to deliver digital solutions is developed and maintained across government agencies.

It is clear to me that the future of online initiatives relies on a well-managed and secure digital identity process.

I am a very strong supporter of the right of indviduals’to privacy and believe that governments can only make real progress in this area, with the support of their citizens. People need to be assured at every level that these various technological advances are being made to assist them in their daily interactions with governments, and are not a subterfuge for mass data gathering or a range of other purposes, otherwise citizens will quickly withdraw their implicit consent for such advances.

Digital identities need to be secure, and citizens need to have confidence that the data they provide to governments will not be misused.

I understand that work is going on in a number of countries to develop secure digital identities. New Zealand, while a leader in this area, depends on collaboration for success. Passports by their nature require networks, both technological and human to function successfully.

We must be able to work together and rely on each other. There are many opportunities still to be pursued and lessons to be learned in developing approaches to identity security, both for the online world and the physical world of documentation.

I urge you all to use this conference as a chance to work in partnership to improve the lives of our citizens, while at the same time protecting them from the negative effects of free and unfettered movement of peoples, or the misuse of identities.

I have no doubt that this ambitious goal is achievable. However, it will require all of you to continue the innovative and important work that you do.

Thank you for the chance to speak here today. I wish you all the best for a successful conference.

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