12. Census 2018—Census Papers and IntegrityDr JIAN YANG (National) to the Minister of StatisticsCensus 2018—Census Papers and Integrity12. Dr JIAN YANG (National) to the Minister of Statistics: Does he have confidence in his Department?Hon JAMES SHAW (Minister of Statistics): I do.Dr Jian Yang: How can he have confidence in his department when there are New Zealanders who had still not received access codes or papers for the 2018 census more than a month after census night despite contacting the helpline and others who completed the census online but have been sent census documents afterwards because there is no record of them having completed the census?Hon JAMES SHAW: Census response rates are running close to target and Statistics New Zealand has been investigating ways in which they might boost response rates in the final field operation period which we're actually still in at the moment. Statistics New Zealand has met its target for online and self-completion rates and is on track to meet the remaining targets. The self-response target was 70 percent and it's running at about that. The online target was 70 percent and it has exceeded that target. Currently we're tracking at about 90 percent completion for the South Island and lower North Island and what that does is it enables us to put resources into the areas of greatest need. All indications are that the census will be completed in line with targets.Dr Jian Yang: How will these many problems affect the integrity and accuracy of the 2018 census?Hon JAMES SHAW: They won't. We're actually on track to deliver the census exactly according to the plan that was put in place by a previous Minister of Statistics Craig Foss. So all of the decisions and plans that Minister Foss put in place are actually being delivered on in accordance with all of those targets. It's important to note that this is the first census that we've actually been able to track progress on a daily basis. In previous censuses we had to wait until the end of the census period before we could start enumerating and at that point we would find out how we were tracking. Now because of the shift to census online we're actually able to track every day and that enables us to shift resources into the areas where there are lower response rates.Dr Jian Yang: What can he say to people in remote regions who are worried about missing out on Government funding for essential services because of the problems in their regions with the 2018 census?Hon JAMES SHAW: This has always been true in the census. Obviously there are some areas which have lower response rates than others. That's why the current way of doing the census enables us to shift resources to those areas. There are some places where we're doing up to six doorknocks per household in order to make sure that those people can be included. There are places where we've actually hand-delivered papers to every single household that hadn't received them yet. That process is still continuing and from all indications we're on track to meet the census numbers as with any previous census. Census completion rates are never 100 percent; it's in the high 90s and it looks like this census will be on track as with historical trends.Dr Jian Yang: What is his response to The Northland Age editor Peter Jackson who said This census shows all the hallmarks of being a shambles."?Hon JAMES SHAW: What I would say is that this census looks to be more successful than previous censuses that we're meeting all of our targets and that that person whoever wrote that article should stop believing everything that he sees on Twitter."