The Ministry for Pacific Peoples (MPP) repeatedly warned its minister that replacing the traditional population-wide survey with administrative data would have negative consequences for data on Pasifika communities.

They cautioned that this change would undercount Pacific people and lead to poor policy decisions, yet the changes proceeded.

In records obtained under the Official Information Act (OIA) by PMN News, Pacific Minister Dr Shane Reti was advised in February that the alteration to data-collection methods would have adverse effects on information relating to Pacific people.

Reti was warned that this could lead to flawed decisions based on that data.

Despite these warnings, the government announced in June that it would replace the conventional paper-based census with a new approach that relies on administrative data, supported by a smaller annual survey and targeted data collection. The new system is set to begin in 20230.

Reti, who is also the Minister of Statistics, says the new approach aims to save time and money.

“Relying solely on a nationwide census day is no longer financially viable. In 2013, the census cost $104 million. In 2023, costs had risen astronomically to $325 million and the next was expected to come in at $400 million over five years,” Reti says.

“Despite the unsustainable and escalating costs, successive censuses have been beset with issues or failed to meet expectations.”

Data expert concerns
The response letter from the MPP expressed concerns raised by data experts who believe the reforms could further degrade data quality for Pacific people.

“Administrative data are largely based on who can access services and are therefore known to undercount Pacific peoples,” the letter states.

The MPP stresses that the proposed changes by Stats NZ are likely to further damage the quality of data on Pacific people, households, and populations.

It pointed out that Pacific people have unique family characteristics and public service needs that are not adequately captured in administrative data.

The letter goes on to say that the transformation could shift the burden of data compliance and costs to other government agencies, which may not be well-equipped to manage these changes.

It also warned that costs associated with collecting population data might increase rather than decrease due to the new approach.

In a statement to PMN News, a spokesman for Reti defended the changes, saying, “By using information already collected by the government, we will deliver more relevant, useful and timely data to help inform quality planning and decision making, which will deliver benefits for Pacific communities.”

PMN News video report.

Working with communities
Alongside the new annual sample survey, Stats NZ plans to work with communities, including Pacific people, to develop tailored solutions, such as targeted surveys, that address their specific data needs.

Administrative data will also be improved to include variables such as ethnicity, age distribution (younger and older people), and new immigrants to New Zealand.

Advancements will be made in other areas, such as languages spoken, housing quality, and family data.

“Data accuracy, detail, and coverage will improve over time, as admin data improvements are implemented, and more data is collected through the annual survey and tailored data collection solutions.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ and with PMN permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Members of Fijian communities in Auckland and Wellington are eager to meet Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka next week when he arrives on his first official state visit to Aotearoa New Zealand.

Rabuka and wife Sulueti are expected to arrive in Auckland on Monday before meeting with the local Fijian community in the afternoon.

They and the delegation accompanying them will then make the trip down to Wellington where they are scheduled to meet with the Fijian community in the capital on Tuesday evening.

Rabuka will also meet NZ Prime Minister Chris Hipkins on Wednesday before a bilateral lunch with Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta.

But it is the meeting with the Fijian communities that is expected to be the highlight of the tour.

Wellington’s Viti Community president Maciu Vucago said the group was excited to have the chance to meet Prime Minister Rabuka at the Wellington Indian Association centre.

“This is the first time he is coming here as Prime Minister after the elections of 2022,” he said.

“After 16 long years we have the opportunity to meet our own Prime Minister. Everyone is excited and we will use the opportunity to get updates on what is happening and hopefully ask some questions to help us understand what is happening,” he added.

The Fijian community meeting in Wellington will feature Fiji’s major ethnic groups — the iTaukei, Indo-Fijian and Rotuman — who have come together to prepare for the event.

“It will be a good day for all of us coming together to meet our Prime Minister,” Vucago said.

Rabuka and his delegation will return to Fiji on Thursday.

The Prime Minister is currently in Apia as part of the Pacific Leaders contingent there celebrating Samoa’s Independence Day.

• According to the 2018 NZ Census, there are 36,000 Fiji islanders — including all ethnic groups — living in the country.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

South Auckland’s poor turnout for the 2018 Aotearoa New Zealand national census could have cost the region $130 million in health funding.

And, according to an expert, that cash could have helped tackle the area’s battles with diabetes and obesity.

Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand said the defunct Counties Manukau District Health Board lost $130m in health funding in its last four years due to the low turnout in the area during the 2018 census.

Information from the five-yearly stocktake helps determine how billions of dollars in government spending is allocated across health, education, transport, infrastructure and other services.

Counties Manukau has more people with diabetes than any other health region in the country.

Te Whatu Ora (Counties Manukau) Director of Population Health Gary Jackson said additional money would help fund programmes to battle two issues affecting many people in the region.

He said there were 52,000 diabetics in Counties Manukau and that figure was growing by 2000 people a year. It is also home to 19 percent of all New Zealanders in the most extreme BMI group.

Only 71 percent response
Figures released by Stats NZ this week show only 71 percent of people in South Auckland have so far completed the census in 2023, compared to 83 percent nationwide.

Te Whatu Ora Chief Financial Officer Rosalie Percival said getting people to provide their details was vital to ensure areas like Counties Manukau got the healthcare services they needed.

“Health providers know about the people who turn up at their door needing care — but they have no other way of knowing about the presence of people who haven’t recently needed to use the health system,” she said.

“The data gained from the census helps to inform important decisions about planning for the needs of local areas and subsequently healthcare spending.”

However, Buttabean Motivation (BBM) founder Dave Letele said getting people to complete the census was not easy.

Letele, who is potentially standing for Te Pāti Māori this year, was an ambassador for Census 2023 and was involved in a social media campaign which kicked off late last year to get more people to take part.

“There’s a massive distrust between our people and the government and that’s what we need to overcome,” Letele said.

Wary about personal information
He said as a result a lot of people were wary about sharing their personal information with authorities.

“But it’s not just something you can throw money at to fix it.”

Deputy Government Statistician and deputy chief executive for census and collection operations Simon Mason confirmed the turnout at the last census in 2018 was poor in Counties Manukau.

“That is why it is critically important that people complete the census — so their communities are counted . . .”

Mason said the 2023 event was designed to address barriers to participation, including having more collectors and alternate formats for people to complete it and support a wider range of people.

A spokesperson for Stats NZ said it would still have field teams collecting people’s responses until May 3 and will be running census support events until June 4.

Pacific Media Watch reports that the Counties Manukau health population is ethnically diverse with the largest Pacific population and second largest Māori popukation of any New Zealand health board.

In the 2018 census, 16 percent of the population served by CM Health identified as Māori, 22 percent as Pacific, 28 percent as Asian and 34 percent as NZ European/other groups.

Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air. It is published by Asia Pacific Report in collaboration.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz