Karnak Heremia-Bartlett (right) and his census team gave away the last remaining tickets to folk who filled out forms ahead of the NRL match at McLean Park, Napier, between the New Zealand Warriors and the Brisbane Broncos. Photo / Paul Taylor
Karnak Heremia-Bartlett (right) and his census team gave away the last remaining tickets to folk who filled out forms ahead of the NRL match at McLean Park, Napier, between the New Zealand Warriors and the Brisbane Broncos. Photo / Paul Taylor
Fill in your census and get a Warriors ticket – that was a big message pushed in Hawke’s Bay this week.
Now, the tickets are officially all gone.
Fifty of the remaining tickets to see the Warriors play the Brisbane Broncos tomorrow at McLean Park, Napier, were snapped up on Friday morning at the captain’s run by those who filled in their forms.
Stats NZ workers on the ground confirmed the total number of tickets given away as part of community events in Hawke’s Bay came to 550.
That means 550 more people have contributed towards the census, something Stats NZ staff member Karnak Heremia-Bartlett and his team were very proud of.
“We knew we were going to get a lot of people, but it was just awesome to see the number of community members that have turned up to support not just the Warriors but the census staff as well.”
He said that, even when the 50 remaining tickets ran out, people were still keen to fill in their forms.
Ava Sweatman, 13, from Napier Intermediate school, with Warriors player Demitric Sifakula. Photo / Paul Taylor
Lots of whānau and schoolchildren had turned up which was also great for numbers and engagement.
“We’re definitely trying to push people to fill in their census forms because it helps with the recovery of our area after Cyclone Gabrielle.”
Heremia-Bartlett said he got into the census team because he wanted to make a difference in his community.
“I’m all for getting the best outcomes for our communities, including our Māori and Pasifika communities who were majorly undercounted in the 2018 census.”
One lucky ticket recipient was Sheri-Lee Sherman-Beamsley, who brought her sports-mad family to come and watch the Warriors get ready.
She and her nine children and two moko are now officially counted in the census and intend to be back on the sidelines on Saturday to watch the teams battle it out.
“I was bringing my kids originally anyway,” she said. “They wanted to come, they all play sport, and it just happened that the census [people] were here.”
Sheri-Lee Sherman-Beamsley (back right) and her family filled in census forms and scored some Warriors tickets. Photo / Paul Taylor
Sherman-Beamsley works full-time and the family also runs a basketball club, so finding time to fill in the census had been hard, she said.
“I’ve been getting home and getting mail, but I don’t get home until about 8-9.30pm, sometimes 11pm.
“We’re out straight from work, straight over to the courts or rugby field so by the time we get it it’s too late.”
