Counted out: anger as New Zealand census fails to tick all the boxes

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.

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.”

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.

Source: theguardian