Kua takatū te iwi nui rawa te tokomaha o Aotearoa ki te Tatauranga 2023 is this story in te reo Māori.
Te Rūnanga-Ā-Iwi-Ō-Ngāpuhi, representing the largest iwi in Aotearoa New Zealand, has signed an agreement with Stats NZ to boost its peoples’ participation in the 2023 Census and support the Community Counts initiative, aimed at increasing response rates for next year’s census, Stats NZ said today.
Te Rūnanga-Ā-Iwi-Ō-Ngāpuhi Chief Executive, Sam Napia, said accurate population information is vital to ensure Ngāpuhi does not fall short of the correct level of government funding entitlements in areas such as education, health, and other public funding initiatives.
He said Ngāpuhi estimates its population as up to 160,000 members, but according to the last-census statistics, only 125,000 are recorded. Ngāpuhi would like this discrepancy resolved.
Mr Napia also said the agreement, which was signed last week, is in line with the expectation of Te Rūnanga-Ā-Iwi-Ō-Ngāpuhi of developing genuine long-term partnerships with government agencies like Stats NZ and, as such, looks well beyond this census.
Meanwhile, Stats NZ’s Deputy Government Statistician and Deputy Chief Executive for Census and Collection Operations, Simon Mason, said “One of the key priorities for the 2023 Census is ensuring we deliver for, and with, Māori. With more than 160,000 people in Aotearoa New Zealand affiliating to Ngāpuhi, this agreement is a huge step towards helping Māori be counted in the census.”
“Ngāpuhi have a great track record of working in the community and establishing relationships built on trust, for example, through their community engagement work during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Mason said. “Stats NZ shares these values, and we look forward to working together to lift engagement with 2023 Census among the communities Te Rūnanga-Ā-Iwi-Ō-Ngāpuhi serves.”
With Census Day, Tuesday 7 March 2023, following relatively closely on from the holiday season, Mr Napia said it is important Te Rūnanga-Ā-Iwi-Ō-Ngāpuhi and Stats NZ ensure the Community Counts partnership is a success. This includes tailoring local events, community engagements, and promotional campaigns for their people, as well as providing cultural upskilling and training for census collectors to achieve as high a level of census completion as possible.
What is Community Counts?
Community Counts is a community-led approach to census engagement and collection. Census engagement staff are working with community leaders and organisations across the motu to design initiatives that will increase response rates from their communities.
Community Counts initiatives are tailored to the specific circumstances and nature of the communities being engaged. By supporting communities through engagement, resourcing, and capability building and by bringing together multiple stakeholders to shape the collection and engagement approach, Community Counts enables communities to define how they can best be counted in the 2023 Census.
