A Northlander wants the High Court to quash his conviction and fine for failing to fill in a Census form on the basis that he couldn't fill the form out under a Maori Land Act.
Shane Whatarau of Towai, north of Whangarei, was last month fined $150 by Whangarei District Court on a charge of failing to fill the form as required under the Statistics' Act and his appeal against the sentence and conviction was heard in the High Court at Whangarei yesterday.
Under the Statistics Act 1975, everyone must fill in a Census form and people can be fined up to $500 per charge if they do not participate, or they provide false or incomplete information.
There's an ongoing liability created by the Act where a failure to complete the form following conviction may render people liable to a fine not exceeding $20 per day while the forms remain incomplete.
Whatarau faced two charges under the Act, but was convicted on one charge only after the other couldn't be proven by Statistics New Zealand.