Just over 70 percent of Māori have put in their Census forms, and Stats NZ’s Māori Census director Atawhai Tibble says the department is pushing to increase that before the cut-off at the end of June.
Tibble said workers are still on the ground in areas hit by Cyclone Gabrielle, which delayed the start of the Census in the Far North, Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay regions, but he’s generally pleased that seven out of 10 Māori have completed their forms so far.
“They’ve done what was asked of them and their communities will benefit from the information they give,” Tibble told Waatea News.com.
“In terms of the 260,000 left, we still have until the end of June and we’re really pushing hard to make sure people can fill in their forms online so we will still be advertising and having a push in some areas.”
