Thursday, 1 March 2007

Dunne Sounds Caution On New Births, Deaths And Marriages Legislation

United Future leader Peter Dunne is sounding a caution about new legislation on the registration of births, deaths and marriages.

The legislation, which is having its first reading in Parliament, introduces more controls over access to births, deaths and marriages records to prevent the fraudulent misuse of such information.

Mr Dunne says that while United Future supports the intent of the legislation, and will be voting for it to go to a select committee, it is concerned that it could have an adverse impact on legitimate genealogical and historical research.

"While we accept that in these more security-conscious times greater attention needs to be paid to guard against using such material for illegal purposes, we do not want to see the access of the legitimate family or historical researchers restricted unduly.

"We are not yet entirely satisfied that the Bill strikes the appropriate balance on this score, and will be looking to the select committee process to consider that aspect more thoroughly and to amend the Bill as necessary to ensure that legitimate research can be continued.

"Our future support for this legislation depends on that point being satisfied," he says.

ENDS

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