Modernised Census plan hits political roadblock

The Government last year announced plans to abandon the five-yearly count due to rising costs and problems with data collection, instead relying on administrative data already collected by government agencies and an annual survey of a subset of the population.

The proposal has attracted criticism from some who fear it will reduce the reliability of government statistics and associated spending.

A Stats NZ report to Parliament’s Justice Committee on the Data and Statistics (Census) Amendment Bill stated that submitters raised concerns about the ability of an administrative, data-first census to produce a wide range of variables and characteristics.

Among submitters to raise concerns about gaps in religion data from the proposed approach were economist Brian Easton and a staff submission by the Planning and Growth Division of the Tauranga City Council, the report stated.

Stats NZ said in the report that its evidence showed characteristics such as disability status, sexual identity, languages spoken, religious affiliation and housing quality “are not well captured in admin sources and will continue to require survey collection”.

On July 31, Parliament’s Justice Committee issued its reports on the two bills that would underpin the new model. But Labour has officially pulled its support, leaving the Government well short of the “supermajority” of 75 per cent of MPs that it needs.

In a differing view attached to the select committee report, Labour said it was not opposed in principle to modernising the Census, but was not confident the administrative data model “would be accurate or reliable enough to justify a step as significant and as permanent as ending New Zealand’s long-standing Census of Population and Dwellings”.

Statistics Minister Scott Simpson said Stats NZ had a statutory obligation to prepare a Census for 2028, which the department has estimated would cost about $400 million to conduct in the traditional manner, The Post reported.

“Given that we’re not able to pass legislative change in this Parliament, they’ll need to get on with that job,” Mr Simpson said, while acknowledging the department did not have the budget.

In February, Stats NZ advised ministers there was also no longer time to deliver a Census in 2028 that met data quality standards “and attempting to do so would carry delivery and legal risk”.

FULL STORY

Govt’s census overhaul thrown into doubt after Labour pulls support (By Sam Sachdeva/Newsroom)

Stats NZ departmental report to Justice Committee (NZ Parliament)

Stats NZ told to prepare for 2028 census without funding, as politicians squabble (The Post – subscription required)