No advice on census risks
Statistics Minister James Shaw has not taken advice on key risks surrounding Census 2018.
Data from the beleaguered national survey, which failed to count one in 10 New Zealanders, is continuing to be patched by Statistics New Zealand one year on from census day.
The troubled data could adversely affect the funding of district health boards in the likes of Northland, East Coast and Manukau where populations may be undercounted, and there is fear Ma¯ ori may lose an electorate seat.
Shaw has not taken advice on these risks, which experts have said may have million dollar implications.
The minister’s handling of the long-delayed census was questioned by National party MP Jian Yang in Parliament yesterday.
State Services Minister Chris Hipkins, answering in Shaw’s absence, said the minister had not received advice on the reported risks.
Asked why Shaw was initially confident in the success of Census 2018, Hipkins said: ‘‘The census has clearly had some challenges, no-one on this side of the House would doubt that.
‘‘But I note that the business case under which this census was operated was approved by the previous Government.’’
Questions about when data would be made available should be directed to Government Statistician Liz MacPherson, he said.
Yang has said he suspected there was a high percentage of partial responses to Census 2018.
‘‘To me, that’s a big concern, because if you have a low response rate and a high percentage of partial responses then that means the data really will not be reliable.’’
Stats NZ declined to provide the number of partial responses when asked at its annual review in February, tabling a written answer detailing their position in parliament yesterday.
To provide such numbers would require ‘‘extensive contextual information’’, the department said.
‘‘It would be more appropriate, and useful, to provide the committee and public with the official 2018 Census counts when they are completed and publicly released.’’
On Tuesday, Shaw said he met weekly with MacPherson. He remained confident in the department’s work and was continually testing the handling of Census 2018.
‘‘From what I can see, Stats is doing everything available to them to manage their way through this.’’
Shaw said his operational independence from Stats NZ was statutorily defined, so he was not privy to much detail beyond what Stats NZ had said publicly.