Harry Styles is required by law to take part in the NZ Census in March, if he is on NZ soil. Photo / AP
Harry Styles is required by law to take part in the NZ Census in March, if he is on NZ soil. Photo / AP
In just under two weeks, Harry Styles will bring his Love On Tour show to Auckland but aside from performing to a sold out show, there is one very important task the star will have to complete.
Completing the New Zealand 2023 Census.
Following an enquiry via Twitter, a CensusNZ spokesperson has revealed every single person who is in Aotearoa on Tuesday, March 7, will have to partake in the statistic collecting service.
There are no special exceptions – not even for a global superstar.
In response for a request for comment from the Herald, a spokesperson for Census NZ confirmed that “everyone in New Zealand is legally required to complete the census”.
“This is set out in the Data and Statistics Act 2022 (the Act). Because the census is so important and required by law, you can be prosecuted if you fail to complete your census form(s). Stats NZ’s priority is to encourage and remind everyone to complete their forms, and to provide support to make this as easy as possible.”
The statement added that those impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle will still be able to complete their census forms after March 7.
" Discretion will be applied for situations where personal circumstances have impacted on the completion of census forms.”
In a Twitter exchange between NZ magazine, Coup De Main and Census NZ yesterday, they asked the Government run service: “Important question for 2023 Census”.
“Will Harry Styles also have to do the census on March 7 with the rest of New Zealand?”
They accompanied the tweet with a photo of Styles signing an autograph in 2014.
It soon earned a reply from a Census spokesperson who said: “Kia ora @coupdemain CC: the country. Thank you for this important query”.
Harry Styles will be required to fill out the 2023 NZ Census. Photo / Twitter
“Everyone who is in Aotearoa New Zealand on census night (Tuesday, March 7) needs to be counted in the census,” it continued.
“This includes tourists, visitors and former members of One Direction.”
They signed off the tweet with the same photo of Styles that had been playfully edited.
Calling it an “artists impression”, the photo was edited to include a pink square on the table with “census” drawn on it to give the impression that Styles was filling out the form.
Kia ora @coupdemain CC: the country. Thank you for this important query.
Everyone who is in Aotearoa New Zealand on census night (Tuesday 7 March), needs to be counted in the census. This includes tourists, visitors, and former members of One Direction.
— 2023 Census | Aotearoa New Zealand | 7 March 2023 (@2023Census) February 23, 2023
The tweet soon went viral and resulted in further questions from the public, one of which asked: “Will there be a Census question about how awesome is Harry Styles, so that we can all agree on something just once this year?”
Census NZ’s Twitter account replied: “Kia ora Dr Wilson. Thank you for asking. Unfortunately, there is no census question on that topic.
“However, each of our answers to the census can convey our own awesomeness levels, and this will include those from Harry Styles. These answers will, of course, stay private.”
The NZ Census is conducted to determine not only the population of the country but also to better understand Kiwis’ lives.
It includes a range of topics, from population demographics, location, ethnicity, to income, work, disability and even cigarette smoking, among other things.
Styles – who is worth an estimated US$120 million (NZ$192m) – will be required to fill out these questions along with anyone else who is in the country on March 7.
The last country-wide census took place on March 6 in 2018.
