12. Question No. 12—StatisticsDr JIAN YANG (National) to the Minister of StatisticsQuestion No. 12—Statistics12. Dr JIAN YANG (National) to the Minister of Statistics: Does he have confidence in Statistics New Zealand's handling of Census 2018 and does he stand by all his statements regarding Census 2018?Hon JAMES SHAW (Minister of Statistics): In response to the first part of the question yes; and in response to the second part of the question yes in the context in which they were made.Dr Jian Yang: Does he still stand by his statement that this census looks to be more successful than previous censuses" when the release of census data will now be delayed for at least a second time?Hon JAMES SHAW: In the context that I made that statement I was referring to the response rates to the online census which were substantially above the response rates that they were projecting—[Interruption] SPEAKER: Order! Can the member just resume his seat. I'd like the member to make that answer again without the support from his right—my left—which is coming through his mike and meaning that people at this end can't hear.Hon JAMES SHAW: I just assumed they weren't interested in the answer. So the context that I made that statement was in response to a question about the online response rate which was substantially higher than projections.Dr Jian Yang: What does he say to the Ministry of Education district health boards and others who rely on this data to budget for much-needed services?Hon JAMES SHAW: We've had a delay in the census before. For the last census there was a seven-year delay—sorry. It was seven years; a two-year delay because of the earthquake and all of the agencies were able to cope with the information that they had at the time. Statistics New Zealand are currently working with key stakeholders including iwi and other public agencies to make sure that any delay to the census data doesn't affect their operations.Dr Jian Yang: Well does he now agree with former Labour Party president Mike Williams when he said the census was an "industrial strength fiasco" and the census should be "done again properly"?Hon JAMES SHAW: No I don't but I'd like to point out that the former John Key - led National Government received a quantitative risk assessment in 2014 that highlighted that the costs of the census would increase over the coming five-year period. Despite this the John Key - led National Government cut the budget by 5 percent. [Interruption]SPEAKER: Order! Order! Enough from both sides. We will hear the balance of this supplementary answer in silence.Hon JAMES SHAW: At the same time the former John Key - led National Government signed off on a complete change in the census methodology from a primarily paper-based exercise to a primarily online exercise and at the same time they chewed through five Ministers in four years which would have meant poor oversight by Cabinet. It also shows that they didn't see the stats portfolio as a priority. So you had a Cabinet that completely changed the census methodology—[Interruption]SPEAKER: Five.Hon JAMES SHAW: —cut the budget despite knowing what the risks were and weren't paying attention in a governance capacity.SPEAKER: Right. There were four different members who interjected when they were told to be silent all from my left including one member who did it twice. Any further supplementaries now—they'll come off tomorrow."