MP admits leak role
Whiff of dirty politics around leak involving Nats, says Labour
Under-fire National MP Hamish Walker has admitted to passing the private details of Covid-19 patients to media, after former party president Michelle Boag leaked the data to him.
Boag and Walker revealed their involvement in last week’s leak just one day after the Government launched an inquiry into the matter, both apologising for their actions.
Walker, already under pressure over accusations of racism, said he had passed on the information ‘‘from a source’’. In his statement the CluthaSouthland MP noted the data had not been password-protected and he lashed the Government for its availability.
This source was revealed minutes later to be Boag, who retains close links to National. She said she received the information in her role as the acting chief executive of the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust.
‘‘I very much regret my actions and did not anticipate that Hamish would choose to send it on to some media outlets but I am grateful that the media involved have chosen not to publish the 18 names that were contained within it,’’ Boag said.
She has resigned from her position at the trust as a result.
Privacy Commissioner John Edwards said the leak was indefensible while National leader Todd Muller described Walker’s actions as an ‘‘error of judgment’’.
Boag would not comment on why she sent the information to Walker. ‘‘It would be inappropriate for me to do that because I would be disclosing more details,’’ she said.
State Services Minister Chris Hipkins said the leak appeared to be deliberate and could be criminal.
Speaking about the revelations late yesterday, he said it was disappointing to learn politicians were involved.
‘‘This is a very disappointing situation, it does have a ring of dirty politics to it, and I think that would be very sad for the forthcoming election campaign.
‘‘If a member of Parliament can’t accept that receiving people’s health information is something that they should treat with a degree of confidence then that says quite a lot about their own levels of personal integrity and judgment.’’
He said the inquiry into the leak would continue. ‘‘There are some concerns that have legitimately been raised here, and we’ve got to get to the bottom of that ... and make sure we have the relevant systems in place.’’
Muller said
Walker had made an ‘‘error of judgment’’ and stripped him of his portfolios.
‘‘While I wait for the result of the inquiry I have transferred his forestry, land information and associate tourism portfolio responsibilities to Ian McKelvie.’’
Walker was already in the news after being accused of racism for issuing a press release that said people from ‘‘India, Pakistan, and Korea’’ could be headed to Dunedin, Invercargill and Queenstown for quarantine. Currently, only New Zealand citizens or residents are allowed into the country.
Housing Minister Megan Woods said the comments were racist scaremongering, but Walker defended them – saying he had evidence from a source which proved the arrivals would be coming from those countries.
Privacy Commissioner Edwards said circulating sensitive information was inexcusable.
‘‘People are entitled to have an expectation that their health information is kept private,’’ he said.
‘‘It causes anxiety to individuals, those involved, and that is unforgivable.’’
He said if people believed there were shortcomings in a system for protecting information, they should bring those concerns to an authority.
Walker said last night: ‘‘I did this to expose the Government’s shortcomings so they would be rectified. It was never intended that the personal details would be made public, and they have not been, either by me or the persons I forwarded them to.
‘‘I made serious allegations against the Government’s Covid-19 response and passed on this information to prove those allegations.
‘‘Private health information does not have basic safeguards in place and the Government needs to immediately change its protocols and store the information on a secure, safe network that at a minimum requires a password.
‘‘I sincerely apologise for how I have handled this information and to the individuals impacted by this.’’
Walker, a first-term MP, ran into trouble earlier this term after falsely claiming in a Facebook post that he had been out door-knocking in the electorate. He was reselected as the National candidate for the seat earlier this year.