Labour has spent more than $1 million trying to encourage people to fill in their Census forms, including more than $9,000 playing host to gang members, National’s Statistics spokesperson Simon Watts says.

“This is the second Census in a row under Labour that has failed to reach its target and has become an expensive and embarrassing failure,” Mr Watts says.

“At $317 million, this Census is going to cost more than double the 2018 one and the data is going to be poor quality like last time. 

“Labour has failed to meet all its targets. Māori participation is at 72 per cent, a mere 5 per cent higher than in 2018 and nowhere near the 90 per cent target.

“Labour’s only response is to shovel more of taxpayers’ money into it. Labour has spent over $1 million trying to bribe people to fill in their forms – including offering free grocery vouchers and Warriors tickets.

“As if this Labour Government could not get any softer on crime, Labour also spent over $9,087 enticing gang members to fill in their form.

“Gang numbers are up 66 per cent since 2017, and now we have a situation where Labour is happy to spend hard-earned taxpayer money on people who actively break the law and intimidate Kiwis up and down the country.

“Statistics Minister Deborah Russell needs to explain why New Zealanders who did the right thing and who filled out their Census on time as required by law, now have their hard-earned money going on ‘Census support events’ for gang members.

“The Census has been plagued with issues from start to finish, including more than one million New Zealanders receiving duplicate forms, and thousands receiving repeated visits from census collectors despite already having filled out their forms. 

“Additionally, multiple Census staff are now taking personal grievance cases against Stats NZ and their contractors due to the employment conditions in the 2023 census. The number of grievances has reportedly doubled since it was initially reported in March. 

“Ms Russell staked her job on the Census being a success saying she would resign if he didn’t reach her target of 90 per cent target of the population filling out the Census. Maybe it is time for her to start writing her resignation letter.”