Stats NZ drops charges against Marton man for not filling in Census

Paul Cooper says he did fill in his Census forms. Photo / Supplied

The charges against a Marton man for failing to complete the 2018 Census have been dropped but he now wants Statistics New Zealand to pay him damages for "two years of harassment".

Paul Hooper was facing two charges but these have now been withdrawn, in part due to the impact of Covid-19 on the justice system.

But Hooper wants to use a June court date to pursue his claim for damages.

A Statistics New Zealand spokesperson said extensive attempts were made to encourage Hooper to complete his census forms, including repeated visits in person over many weeks.

"Mr Hooper repeatedly refused to complete his census as required."

Hooper said he had no objection to answering the Census questions but had trouble filling in the online forms.

"The online one has been spoken about a lot. We all know how bad that was."

He did fill in the forms on paper, three times, writing "p*** off" on the third version.

The Stats NZ spokesperson said it was confident its actions and the decisions made were measured and appropriate.

"The Census processes were professionally conducted and the charges fairly laid."

Hooper was prosecuted by Stats NZ and faced charges under the Statistics Act 1975, one for the household Census and one for the personal one.

He pleaded not guilty to both in the Marton District Court.

He argued his prosecution amounted to discrimination, as he was one of an estimated 700,000 people who did not fill in census forms and only 60 were prosecuted.

The Statistics NZ spokesperson said taking part in the Census is a legal requirement but it was not practical to prosecute everyone who did not take part.

Cases were chosen on criteria such as active refusal and a strong negative or abusive attitude displayed toward Census staff.

Hooper believes they were partly chosen to provide an even geographical spread across the country, and "set an example".

Paul Hooper wants to keep his June 11 appearance at Marton District Court. Photo / Bevan Conley

There was a court date set in April but Covid-19 lockdown made that impossible, and last week Hooper received an email from Stats NZ saying the charges had been withdrawn.

The Solicitor General had asked for remaining charges to be withdrawn, the spokesperson said, due to impacts of the pandemic on the justice system.

Sixty people were prosecuted for failing to fill in the 2018 Census.

The Stats NZ spokesman said there have been 47 convictions, and 11 cases were withdrawn before proceedings could begin. The remaining two cases will also be formally withdrawn.