7. Question No. 7—StatisticsDAMIEN SMITH (ACT) to the Minister of StatisticsQuestion No. 7—Statistics7. DAMIEN SMITH (ACT) to the Minister of Statistics: Does she have confidence that Stats New Zealand will achieve the 90 percent completion rate target for the New Zealand Census 2023 and is she absolutely" willing to resign as Minister if this target isn't met by 5 pm tomorrow?Hon Dr DEBORAH RUSSELL (Minister of Statistics): I am absolutely confident that Tatauranga Aotearoa Statistics New Zealand will deliver an excellent census that will give Government agencies city and district councils iwi and hapū and community groups and businesses good information to plan for the future. The collection period for the census ends at 5 p.m. tomorrow. However the census process is continuing as returns are gathered processed and checked. The completion rate for the census will not be known until towards the end of 2024 after the postenumeration survey is completed and evaluated.Damien Smith: Does she accept that she has ultimate responsibility for the census failing to meet its target completion rate and if the Minister doesn't who has the ultimate responsibility?Hon Dr DEBORAH RUSSELL: I reject the use of the word "failing" there. The census has in fact succeeded. We are sitting on an 89 percent return rate at the moment and in fact there has been particular success with increasing the rate of return from our Māori and Pasifika populations.Nicole McKee: Point of order Mr Speaker. The question that was asked of the Minister was about accepting responsibility and if not the Minister then who. She addressed a word that was said in the question without actually addressing the question.SPEAKER: And that would probably be addressed that way if the Minister chooses to do so. The way to avoid it is to not use such words. Are there further supplementaries?Damien Smith: How does she measure the effectiveness of spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayers' dollars on vouchers for sports games and fast food for people who did not complete the census on time when she doesn't know the number of people who filled out the census in return for these vouchers?Hon Dr DEBORAH RUSSELL: It is impossible to know exactly how many people filled out their census forms at events—community events engagement events and the like—where people were drawn into events in order to complete their census. The reason that it's impossible though is it's not just the vouchers not just the events but it's the extended reach of that beyond that that encouraged people that made them aware of the census and therefore encouraged them to complete their forms.Damien Smith: How did she spend $300 million on the census and get such a poor result and is it not a reflection of the lack of trust New Zealanders have in this Government?Hon Dr DEBORAH RUSSELL: I again reject the particular word. It was not a poor result. We have had an excellent result from the census so far where we've gotten an 89 percent return rate. We've gotten increased return rates for Māori and Pasifika. And by the time those return rates are combined with administrative data we will get an excellent coverage rate of 97 to 98 percent. We've got a good census."