Editorial: What’s in it for me?

A census worker on Rangitoto Island in the Hauraki Gulf. Photo / Edward Rooney, File

EDITORIAL

Disclosures of “goodie bags” and Warriors game tickets being handed out to those filling out their Census forms shouldn’t surprise anyone but should still concern all of us.

In Wellington, transients were offered backpacks stocked with snacks, sunglasses and reusable travel cutlery for participating in the data gathering that steers the nation’s policy settings for the near future. Stats NZ is offering tickets for the Warriors versus Sydney Roosters game on May 30, with $25 food and beverage vouchers.

Some pushing was going to be necessary to get some people “over the line” after the poor return five years ago, the lowest participation rate in more than 50 years.

Stats NZ is trying, and we get that. This year, there were twice as many Census collectors compared to 2018 and people could choose whether to take part online or on paper.

Of course, we’ve been down this handout road many times now. Fried chicken was doled out to people in Bay of Plenty, Waikato, Hawke’s Bay and Canterbury for being vaccinated against Covid-19. There were queues at McDonald’s in Frankton during a one-day vax-plus-burger combo deal. Bacon sandwiches were a reward for taking the jab in Taranaki.

A “Super Saturday” vaccination event in Auckland rolled out film director Taika Waititi, singers Lorde and Marlon Williams, as well as rugby’s All Blacks and netball’s Silver Ferns for an eight-hour festival. Air New Zealand opened one of its Boeing 787s to allow a lucky few to be vaccinated in business class, before eating in-flight snacks while waiting out their observation period. Others were given the now obligatory free KFC, pizzas or vouchers for rolling up their sleeves. It was also live-streamed so those who need attention for making any effort could show off their participation to a wider audience.

Few now doubt that the vaccination effort was essential to save thousands of vulnerable New Zealanders. At the time, desperate measures were deployed, including mandates for front-facing workers, and the incentive drives contributed to a remarkably successful immunisation effort.

But what Pandora’s Box have we opened?

It is said it’s better to offer a carrot than a stick but it does appear the carrot now needs to be candy-coated or even replaced with lolli-popcorn chicken to be at all effective.

For the simple task of filling out a short Census form, we have now acceded to the expectation that there will be a reward when the penalty of a $2000 fine should be enough of a push.

Regardless, it does appear the Census returns will be comparative to, or even worse than, 2018. Continuing to roll out rewards to the refuseniks is an insult to the rest of the country and only stokes selfish greed.

Civics needs to be compulsorily taught in schools; compliance with essential state processes needs to be mandated; and people need to get on board if we are at all to progress as a country.

And let’s ease up on the sunglasses and fried chicken bribes for something one should be doing as of right.