Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First
“I am not persisting with this case just for myself, but for all people who have had their privacy breached.
Privacy of information is a cornerstone of our country’s democracy. Without it our society truly faces a bleak future.
We now know who the leak is.
Keeping the system honest has been the cornerstone of a parliamentary career that began in 1978.
It is seriously worth highlighting that despite there being around 51,000 people who have made a mistake on their Super Application since 1976, only a single case surrounding an individual has ever made the headlines.
It has always been known that this case was leaked.
Leaked with an intent to do harm.
Leaked for a purpose.
Within Government and the Civil Service no less than 42 individuals knew about this one case. The matter was resolved before it got the attention of Ministers via the Ministry of Social Development.
So what was their investigation, internal inquiry and internal disclosure about? Was it to say that we have this case that has been resolved, but we want you Ministers to know about it? But why?
The Prime Minister at the time this happened, Bill English, is on record saying that this information should never have been disclosed.”
