Editorial: Stand and be counted for Census

Doug Laing

Just a few hours out from the five-yearly Census of New Zealand's population there are serious doubts about how accurate it will be as the nation grapples with doing it online. Despite the fact that this is our "official" count of population and dwellings, New Zealand was not ready for this. Probably tens of thousands will have no idea that today is C day.

The approach from a Crown entity now known as Stats NZ in letting everyone know seems remarkably casual, especially when the law under which it operates, Statistics Act 1975, requires everyone to take part.

The Census is "compulsory" and for not taking part you could be fined $500, plus $20 for each day your abstinence continues after the date of your conviction.

Gee. As if we haven't got enough stress and worry in our daily lives, but the good part is there probably won't be any prosecutions.

This shouldn't, however, be seen as encouragement to break the law.

Rather, if you haven't yet done your bit, you should be looking back through the mail of the past 10 days, filtering through letters that look like dodgy lottery scams, and finding one that has real meaning for the special access number allotted just to yourself, or more specifically to the location at which you live.

It's fast shaping as the Census of How Many People Completed the Census Form. But, at the end of the day, it is time to stand up and be counted.