Kerre Woodham: Sense in Census move

Finally, Statistics New Zealand has listened to the people of New Zealand and decided that those who wish to define their ethnicity as "Kiwi" or "New Zealander" will have their answers recorded in the main Census.

In the last Census, in 2001, almost 80,000 people ignored the official boxes and described their ethnic group as "New Zealander". Another 10,000 chose "Kiwi", and just about every one of these renegades rang talkback to complain that their choice wasn't an option. Now it is.

It will play havoc with the figures because if you're Maori or Indian or Chinese or Tongan, but you're also a Kiwi, you can tick both boxes and both ethnicities will be recorded, meaning our population will be recorded as more than it is.

But as with all statistics, they only tell part of the story, and sometimes the facts are less important than the meaning. A simplistic, tick-the-box definition of this country's smorgasbord of ethnicities hasn't been helpful in nation building.

The decision by people to call themselves "New Zealanders", and the decision to allow them to do so, may not be anthropologically accurate. But it's a step towards building a nation that's proud of its heritage and positive about its future.