As demographic survey goes online for first time, protests erupt over failure to include Pākehā ethnic category and alternative genders

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

New Zealand’s introduction of an online census has caused consternation throughout with country, with the absence of an ethnic group, accessibility issues for the disabled and elderly, and fears that the nation’s most marginalised people won’t be counted.

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More than 1.5 million people have already filled in their census form online, but thousands more are struggling as they don’t have access to a computer or the internet, have not received a postal access code allowing them to fill in the form online, or do not identify with the ethnic groups or genders listed.

The ongoing exclusion of the ethnic group Pākehā – the Maori word for a New Zealander of European descent – has caused upset and prompted a petition demanding it be reinstated.

The broadcaster Stacey Morrison said the term New Zealand European did not adequately reflect how many New Zealanders saw themselves.

“Pākehā expresses the nature of your family’s voyage to New Zealand – that you have come, at some point, voyaged to and made New Zealand your home,” Morrison told Stuff. “It tells the story of who your family is.”

Dougal McNeill (@Lismahago) Seems ridiculous that there's no box for "Pākehā" on the Census form. According to Stats NZ's own definitions of "ethnicity" it surely has a place somewhere: https://t.co/4pUmowbi7C

Even politicians weighed into the furore, with the former Green party MP Catherine Delahunty saying she planned to type Pākehā in the ‘other’ box regarding her ethnicity.

Catherine Delahunty (@greencatherine) I am a Pākehā and I will write that on my Census paper until they recognise us

virginia braun (@ginnybraun) Just completed @Stats_NZ census - very disappointed Pakeha not included as identity option (except designed thru 'other'), that a sex/gender binary was forced, obliterating a whole swathe of people's identities, & that sexuality was not counted. This information matters!

The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, Te Ara, defined the meaning of Pākehā as “a Maori term for the white inhabitants of New Zealand [that] was in vogue even prior to 1815”.



Other New Zealanders expressed concern that only the male and female genders were listed in the census and there were no questions regarding New Zealanders’ sexuality.

The minister of statistics James Shaw told Radio NZ it was too late to change the questions but he would push to include questions about New Zealander’s sexual identities and preferences in the 2023 census.

“We’ve got to gather this data because we make significant health care funding decisions, and other public policy decision in relation to this community, and we don’t have granular enough information at the moment.”

George 🗻☁️ Connor (@grgcnnr) #census2018 It's _2018_! Are Male / Female really my only two options? @NZMorningReport pic.twitter.com/wH3noM8FJ0

Census New Zealand said about 4% of the country, mostly in remote or rural locations, would be targeted by on-the-ground staff offering paper forms.