My
My question is to the Minister of
in Statistics New Zealand's handling of Census 2018 and does he stand by
all his statements
regarding Census
The
The Hon James Shaw. Mr Speaker, in response to the first part of
the
in the context in which they were made. Supplementary. Does he still
stand by his statement that
census looks to be more successful than previous
census looks to be more successful
release of census data will now be delayed for at
release of census data will now be
Mr Speaker, in the context that I made that statement, I was referring
to the response rates to the online
census, which was substantially
..response rates that they were projecting... Order! Can the member
to make that answer again, without the support from his right, my
left, which is coming through his mic and
meaning that people at this
end can't hear. James Shaw. I
just assumed they weren't
interested in the answer. So
the context that I made that statement was in
response to a question about the online
response rate, which was
substantially higher
substantially higher than projections. Further
substantially higher than
What does he say to the Ministry of Education, district health
boards and others who rely on this data to
budget
and others who rely on this data to
We've had a delay in the census before.
We've had a delay in the census before. The last
census, there were seven
before. The last census, there were
because of the earthquake, and all of the agencies were
able to cope with the
with the information that they had at
with the information that they had
Stats NZ are currently working with... Stats NZ are
currently working with key stakeholders,
including iwi,
including iwi, other public agencies, to make sure that any
delay
..to make sure that any delay to the census data doesn't
affect their operations. Does he now agree
with former Labour Party
president Mike Williams when he said the
former Labour Party president Mike Williams when he said the census
was
to point out, Mr Speaker, that the former
to point out, Mr Speaker, that the
government received a quantitative risk assessment
risk assessment in 2014 that highlighted that the costs of
the census would increase over
the
Order! Enough from both sides. We will hear the balance of
this supplementary answer in silence. At
the same time,
the former John
off on a complete change in the census methodology from a
primarily
online exercise. And, at the same time,
time, they chewed through five ministers in four years, which
would have meant poor oversight by
Cabinet. It also shows that
they didn't see the Stats portfolio as a
priority. So you had a Cabinet that
completely changed
completely changed the census methodology, cut the budget despite
knowing what the risks were,
and weren't paying attention in a
governance capacity. There
were four different
different members who interjected when they were told to
be silent. All from my left, including
one member who did it twice. Any
further
off tomorrow. No, sorry. A point of order, the Hon Stuart Nash.
Thank you, Mr Speaker. I seek leave to
correct an answer given on behalf
of the Minister of Justice. The
member seeks leave to correct an answer HE
gave on behalf of
the Minister of
The Hon Stuart Nash. I can confirm that the Ministry of Justice
has seen the statement from the
that the Ministry of Justice has seen the statement from the Law
that the Ministry of Justice has The
Society which Mr Penk referred to. A
Gerry Brownlee. Mr Speaker, you just, I think,