Census panic stations

• Author: Ben Leahy
• Published date: 14 January 2023
• Publication title: New Zealand Herald, The (Auckland, New Zealand)

The alarms can alert security teams should any of the more than 3000 Census collectors — currently being hired to work the eight weeks from the end of January through to April — feel threatened while door knocking

It’s understood the move is in response to a risk of doorstep antagonism. One applicant said recruitment agencies told them increased safety measures were “in anticipation of huge anti-government sentiment”.

Professor Paul Spoonley, chairman of the Centre of Research Excellence for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism, said trust in the Government had been falling among a segment of society since the start of the COVID pandemic.

That polarisation would be further tested by the March 7 Census and 2023 general election.

“There is a big test for government-community relations this year,” Spoonley said.

“2023 is going to be a moment — whether it is Census or the election — to see whether that antipathy is going to continue at the level we saw in 2022.”

Held every five years, the Census has been running since 1851 and is one of New Zealand’s most important studies.

It is the only survey of the country’s entire population. It reveals how many people live in New Zealand, and its results are used by iwi, businesses and government to help deliver better services, such as schools, hospitals, roads and public transport.

Yet it has also historically been met...