1. GORDON COPELAND (United Future) Link to this
to the Minister of Immigration
Why is the Government proceeding with the decision to “collect and use limited biometric information”, namely fingerprints, iris scans and facial recognition, from migrants and Kiwis returning home, when there has been no policy development to justify the need?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE (Minister of Immigration) Link to this
There is no, I repeat no, proposal to fingerprint or take iris scans from New Zealand passport holders.
Has the Government not, in fact, got the cart before the horse when it comes to the use of biometrics, and why does it even court that possibility, when it has caused uproar in other parts of the world, no present need has been identified, and it is just not the Kiwi way?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE Link to this
Due to the time frames required with legislative change we need to future-proof the proposed legislation now so that we can respond rapidly to pressing future needs. The reality is that the technology exists now to do this, as does the attempt to circumvent it. The United States, the UK, Canada, and Australia, I am advised, all have provision to use biometric collections.
Does the Minister not risk, in rushing ahead with biometrics, creating the impression that the Government is intent on taking New Zealand into some sort of Aldous Huxley Brave New World, when instinctively, and in my view correctly, New Zealanders do not want a bar of that?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE Link to this
I remind the member that this whole issue is subject to further policy work and Cabinet decisions. A safeguard mechanism has also already been agreed to, requiring an Order in Council process to activate any such provision. This is, in a sense, the same process as now, where New Zealand citizens are checked against their passport photo at the border. The most that is contemplated is that that checking may be done by a machine rather than a person.
Peter BrownWill the Minister confirm that New Zealand First made a substantial submission to the review of the Immigration Act and has been supportive of efforts to make our borders more secure, such as making it easier to remove people whose applications to stay are rejected and to stop suspect applicants at the border?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE Link to this
Indeed it did, and I am further advised that around 80 percent of the individual submissions on this matter supported the proposed potential use of biometric information.
Keith LockeCan the Minister explain how this biometric proposal and related heavy-handed measures announced yesterday, like kicking out permanent residents at any time during their first 5 years here on spurious or nebulous grounds, such as character, can help New Zealand to attract skilled labour in the global market?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE Link to this
The member may wish to check his facts first. There is absolutely no proposal to kick anybody out of New Zealand on spurious grounds. A number of changes have been made since the original discussion document in April that put in additional safeguards. I note that there was a clean New Zealand Bill of Rights Act check on the bill before it went through Cabinet.
I seek leave to table an article from this morning’s Dominion Post that indicates quite clearly that it is proposed in the legislation to fingerprint or iris scan New Zealanders, although this could be removed from the bill at the select committee.
Madam SPEAKER