ACC Minister Judith Collins wants the state insurer to start sacking staff who breach a new
"zero tolerance" policy on privacy breaches.
A furious Ms Collins has revealed her astonishment at the failure of ACC to include privacy among nine of its "top priorities".
"They have to act in the way that I expect them to act. When I go around the branches, most of the people there absolutely understand it.
"But, actually, a few are letting them down and when we have things like the audit and risk committee having nine priorities for the year and not one of them [being] privacy, how can that be acceptable given everything else that's going on?"
Ms Collins' comments come as figures from ACC show 11 staff members have been reprimanded over "serious misconduct" since 2010.
The breaches involved: theft; fraud against ACC or a claimant; serious misuse of ACC property, including information and systems; dishonesty; disobeying a lawful and reasonable instruction from a manager; and any act that had the potential to bring ACC into disrepute.
Meanwhile, in some parallel universe, Paula Bennett is boasting that in spite of the recent ruling by the Human Rights Commission that she breached the privacy of Natasha Fuller when she revealed details of her benefit to the media.
"It's three years later, the letter has been done, we've all decided to move on," she said. "I certainly respect her request for privacy now and that the media aren't hounding her. So I want to show a degree of respect for that."
Greens co-leader Metiria Turei said it was a serious concern for Prime Minister John Key that Bennett was refusing to apologise or rule out releasing private details in the future.
"Beneficiaries have a right to privacy, they are entitled to their personal dignity and they shouldn't have a minister who is prepared to breach that and to interfere with their dignity just because she disagrees with what she says."
All beneficiaries were now at risk if they spoke out, she said.
"Paula Bennett will go into your personal files and use that information to attack you in public."
Saying the Commission had made an opinion was "just weasel words".
Shearer said Fuller was abused by Bennett.
"It was wrong, she should apologise, not just say she regrets it."
Fuller had come to an agreement with Bennett because she had been "damaged and hurt" and wanted the situation to go away, he said. The NBR recently reported there is an alarming amount of bribery in NZ . . .
More on the policy of "information sharing" at this link. Shows what a waste of time it is writing to the Human Rights Commission these days anyway. Like writing to the IPCA, and a lot of other 'authorities' charged with upholding justice.
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