Williamson Maurice: Duties of Statutory Officers (Census and Other Remedial Provisions) Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
Williamson Maurice: Duties of Statutory Officers (Census and Other Remedial Provisions) Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:675;Page:20806] 
Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON (Minister of Statistics) 
: 
 I move  
That the Duties of Statutory Officers (Census and Other Remedial Provisions) Bill be now read a second time 
. This bill makes legally necessary and urgently required changes to two different Acts the Statistics Act 1975 and the Statutes Drafting and Compilation Act 1920. 
The changes to the Statistics Act arise from decisions taken to defer the taking of the census following the Canterbury earthquake in February this year and subsequent decisions to conduct a census in 2013. Can I just say to members on the other side of the House that they are welcome to have a few slings and arrows and take a few shots at me but at the time of the deferral of the census the first question asked was whether we needed to do one at all or whether we should just have a 10-year break and bring the next one on as planned for 2016. That type of deferral has happened twice in the history of this country. It happened in 1931 because of the Napier—actually it did not happen because of the Napier earthquake even though that was during that year; it happened because of the Great Depression. The Government of the day decided not to hold a census and there was a 10-year break. The deferral happened again in 1945 during the Second World War; the Government decided to defer it. 
So one of the options that we had to consider—it went to a Cabinet committee and Ministers put a lot of thought into it—was whether we should just can the census for 2011 and pick it back up again in 2016 as was planned and as is in the programme. But of course a number of things flow from the census. I know that the Maori Party is very concerned about the Maori electoral option which is driven off a census being taken. I know that the Minister of Health is very concerned about population-based funding for all of the different district health boards. If we get those numbers wrong over a 10-year period it might be that he indeed is overfunding certain parts of the country and underfunding others. So population-based funding is affected. I know that there are members here in the House who say to me that they really hope they can get some new boundaries for the next election. Holding this census in 2013 will mean that the new boundaries can still be drawn up in time for the 2014 general election. 
The deferral is achieved by amending the current formulation in the Statistics Act 1975 for a census to be undertaken. I find it bizarre that this was ever put into an Act in this way. Section 23(1) states: “in the year 1976 and in every fifth year thereafter.” This legislation— 
Hon Lianne Dalziel 
: Who was the Government that did that? 
Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON 
: Well it just does not sit well with modern drafting practices that the exact year is locked in stone. The Act could have said that a census was to be taken every 5 years and maybe provision could have been made for a Great Depression - type situation a war or indeed the Canterbury earthquake. But the Act did not so we are amending it and substituting “2013” for “1976”. The fact is that it does not change anything from that point on. We go on to a 5-year cycle from 2013. The amendment does not preclude the continuing analysis of options for the frequency and sequencing of the census but it does lock in place a census for 2013 and if no changes are made further out into the future another census will take place 5 years from there. 
The bill also obviates the need for the current proclamation process—that is just for the 2013 census; I need to remind Charles Chauvel about that—by enabling the Government Statistician not the Minister of Statistics or anyone else to appoint the day and notify it in the  
Gazette 
 as soon as practicable after the bill comes into force. I heard someone—it might have been Pete Hodgson—say that it could have been a 1-year delay. Well frankly a huge mechanism needs to be geared up for it. Until this decision was taken if we were looking at taking a census in March 2012 the Government Statistician advises that we simply would not have been able to get the infrastructure the personnel who have to be hired and so on in place. We would not get it done in the time frame and be able to guarantee a smooth census. That is why we have moved it to 2013. 
The Government Statistician puts that in the  
Gazette 
. The rationale for this latter provision is to facilitate the timely announcement of a census and provide certainty in the planning process—and believe me certainty is vital for Statistics New Zealand when it is going about ramping up its budgets quite an amount for that census year and bringing in a lot of staff and personnel who come in only for that short period like all the enumerators and then go again at the end of it. 
The changes to the Statutes Drafting and Compilation Act 1920 are a little bit different. I am not an expert on this and it is not even part of the statistics portfolio. It deals with an urgent issue of providing for the Chief Parliamentary Counsel to be able to delegate his or her functions responsibilities duties and powers. In November 2009 the Cabinet legislation committee noted the recommendation of the Law Commission—and I am a big fan of always going with what the Law Commission recommends—in its report  
Review of the Statutes Drafting and Compilation Act 1920 
. I am sure all members know that the Law Commission reviewed that Act. The report recommended “That the legislation should confer on the Chief Parliamentary Counsel express power to delegate his or her functions.” It currently does not. 
The inclusion of the Chief Parliamentary Counsel’s delegation powers in the bill allows the House the opportunity to deal with the matter expeditiously. This is important because it enables the Parliamentary Counsel Office to be effectively managed while the Chief Parliamentary Counsel is on secondment in the United Kingdom from the end of August of this year. 
The Duties of Statutory Officers (Census and other Remedial Provisions) Bill deals with both of these urgent matters in a straightforward and in my view practical way. It alters the statutory duties of the Government Statistician by requiring him to conduct the Census in 2013— 
Hon Trevor Mallard 
: The truth has been flushed out. 
Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON 
: I cannot have been flushed out; these are the speech notes that I was given by the Attorney-General I say to Mr Mallard. I got them last week so it is a bit hard for him to claim that he flushed me out. The Government Statistician is required to conduct the census in 2013 instead of 2011 and the bill confers the power on the Chief Parliamentary Counsel to delegate his or her powers functions and duties. I commend the bill to the House.