A man accused of dishonestly accessing Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand vaccination data has entered a not guilty plea.
There were cheers and claps as Barry Young entered and left the courtroom at the Wellington District Court on Monday.
The 56-year-old is charged with accessing a computer system for dishonest purposes.
He was arrested two weeks ago, after the health ministry laid a complaint with police. The ministry alleged there was an "unauthorised disclosure and misuse of data by one of its staff members".
It's alleged the data was published on an overseas website.
Te Whatu Ora said the data appeared to be anonymised.
Young has been released on bail and will next appear in court on February 23, to discuss a trial date.
Outside the court, Young told his crowd of supporters he could not wait for the trial.
"I'm not anti-vax, but I am pro-choice. I am not alt-right or far-right. I'm a traditional Labour supporter from the North-East of England," he said.
"I don't subscribe to conspiracy theories... I have not spread misinformation. I am an ordinary citizen of New Zealand."
SHARE ME