March 08, 2023
Census follow-up under way
With most of the country filling in census forms yesterday, the Associate Minister of Statistics is confident census workers will be able to reach Maori in cyclone-hit areas over the next few weeks.
Meka Whaitiri says census teams will remain on the ground in those areas, boosted by Maori-led teams in Te Tai Tokerau, Tairawhiti and Whanau a Apanui in the eastern Bay of Plenty.
“They’re using their internal channels to again promote census, their own people to get their own to participate in Census 2023. So that’s a marked difference to what we did in 2018. So locally-led intiatives by iwi in those regions – who know their own people,” she says.
Ms Whaitiri says government wants to avoid a repeat of the Maori under-count in the 2018 census created problems for funding services for Maori.