Census ‘threats’ decried
A glitch in the system has meant thousands of New Zealanders are being told to complete their census forms, despite having already done so.
West Auckland’s Erin Kingsleigh-Smith said there has obviously been some sort of ‘‘cockup’’ in the system after she was harassed by census officials.
‘‘You assume these things are reliable but obviously they have some teething problems. What I do object to is the threatening notices saying ‘ you must complete it’ when I already have.’’
2018 Census general manager Denise McGregor said about 3000 cases had been identified where people were asked to fill out the census, even though they had already completed it.
The reasons for the alerts varied, including households which completed some of the individual forms, but not a dwelling form; cases where letters have been misdelivered to the wrong address; or addresses where there was a record of more than one dwelling at the address.
Kingsleigh-Smith said she completed her family’s online census forms almost as soon as she received them.
After that, she tossed out the left-over bits of paper and went on with her life.
‘‘However, a couple of weeks ago I received a pack with a letter saying that my census was overdue. I just ignored it thinking it was a mistake,’’ she said.
‘‘Then a couple of days ago I received another pack with a card saying a Census officer had called at the house.’’
Posting on social media, numerous people have recounted similar experiences of being harassed by Census staff, despite completing their forms.
A Christchurch woman, who declined to be named, said she received three visits by Census workers to her home, four written reminders and three phone calls – despite having filled in her forms.
The census was held on March 6 and was an official count of how many people and dwellings there were in New Zealand.
This year Stats NZ encouraged ‘‘digital-first’’ participation in the hopes at least 70 per cent of New Zealanders would log on.
Outrage at sentence
Family and friends of four people killed in a crash caused in part by a 20-year-old Hamilton man are outraged he’s not going to prison. ‘‘Well, that’s a f...ing joke,’’ someone in the public gallery exclaimed as Dylan Cossey was sentenced to 12 months of home detention, 400 hours of community work and disqualified from driving for seven years. Cossey, who had been found guilty by a High Court jury in Hamilton in February on four counts of manslaughter, was sentenced on Friday. He fled from the scene of a head-on smash near Hamilton Airport about 10pm on June 24, 2016, with co-defendant Stephen John Jones, 20, in the front passenger seat. Cossey was racing his Honda Integra against a Nissan Skyline at estimated speeds of more than 150kmh. The race came to a sudden end when the Nissan collided with an oncoming van. In the doomed vehicle were Hannah Leis Strickett-Craze, 24, Lance Tyrone Robinson, 28, and Paul de Silva, 20, all from Waipa, and Jason McCormick Ross, 19, from Taranaki. Jones was found not guilty on all four manslaughter charges.
Three die in crash
The driver of a ute involved in a triple fatal crash near Thames was on bail for methamphetamine offences and had a driving history of speed and crashes. It is understood 20-year-old Haydn David Clark crossed the centre line crashing head-on into another ute on Thursday night, killing Hauraki couple Ian James Fielder, 66, and Jocelyn Anne Fielder, 64. Clark had absconded from his bail address and was in breach of his 24-hour curfew, a source said. He was facing charges of manufacturing and supply of methamphetamine. Clark died at the scene on State Highway 25 west of the Kopu bridge. His 54-year-old father, Jim, who was in the passenger seat, was cut free from the wreck in a critical condition. Inspector Marcus Lynam earlier confirmed one of the two utes involved was part of an Auckland purchase deal gone wrong and was reported stolen before the crash. Thursday’s crash brings the country’s road toll to 125 since January 1.
Nurse injured
A student nurse was injured when a man armed with a knife allegedly robbed and assaulted her while she walked from Christchurch Hospital to her car near Hagley Park about 10.30pm on Thursday. Police arrested the alleged offender in the vicinity a short time later. The woman has since been discharged from hospital. Tane Faatafa, 18, appeared by audio visual link in the Christchurch District Court on Friday morning charged with injuring with intent to injure the student nurse, wounding the woman with intent, robbing the woman of a handbag, laptop, and personal possessions while armed with a knife, and unlawfully having a knife in a public place. The New Zealand Nursing Organisation has been raising concerns about the lack of safe car parking for afternoon staff since 2015.