4 Sep 2013

Data release 'unsatisfactory' - Dunne

6:37 pm on 4 September 2013

Peter Dunne, the MP at the centre of the David Henry inquiry, has told Parliament's Privileges Committee his phone and meta data records were accessed without his permission, which was entirely unsatisfactory.

The committee is looking into the unauthorised release of a journalist's email and phone records to the inquiry held by Mr Henry into the leak of a report on the GCSB.

Peter Dunne before the privileges Committee.

Peter Dunne before the privileges Committee. Photo: RNZ

Mr Dunne resigned as a minister following the inquiry.

He told the committee on Wednesday that records of his swipe card access were also provided to the enquiry outside of the period he agreed to.

The full email trail between Mr Dunne and Ms Vance was mistakenly sent to the inquiry by Parliamentary Service, then recalled 45 minutes later.

Mr Dunne says the file was also available on the parliamentary server for 5 hours 35 minutes.

He says it is not clear whether the emails were accessed, and if so who accessed them.

Mr Dunne says he wants an assurance they were not accessed and has written to Speaker David Carter about the matter but has not received a reply.

Earlier, Clerk of the House Mary Harris said Parliament had been let down by what happened.

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters, who first accused Mr Dunne of leaking the GCSB report to Ms Vance, refused to say on Wednesday if he's seen Mr Dunne's full emails.