Ms SCRYMGOUR - 2003-02-25
Is the government aware of reports by some Territorians that their census forms were not collected in the last census? What is the government doing …
Members interjecting.
Ms SCRYMGOUR: Instead of chuckling and being so childish, why don’t you listen?
What is the government doing to ensure the Territory’s population is accurately reflected in official statistics?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it is a very important question, and I thank the member for Arafura, who is obviously very interested in how we have accurately reflected the numbers of our population in those statistics. Yes, I am aware of claims that some census …
Mr Dunham: You cannot even tell us how many public servants there are. Count them.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Drysdale, you are beginning to get tiresome again.
Ms MARTIN: Yes, I am aware of some claims that census forms were not collected. We know that the ABS responds that there are swings and roundabouts in the census, and that an estimate is made of household numbers when those forms are not returned, or when nobody is home on census day. We do accept that the Bureau of Statistics needs to make such estimates.
However, government is concerned with whether the model that is used by the ABS takes into account the circumstances of the Territory, particularly our population demographics and whether there is inherent under-counting in the model that they use. The factors that we are all very aware of are our large indigenous population, language and cultural difficulties, and a highly mobile population. This is not knocking the ABS. They do the best job they can with the resources available, but we want to ensure that the figures are accurate. Having an accurate as possible picture of Territory population will help us better target the provision of infrastructure and services in an equitable manner.
Under-counting costs the Territory in Commonwealth revenue and, disgracefully, last week we saw that a small statistical blip was enough to affect our federal parliamentary representation. It is a ludicrous result, and I hope that the Opposition Leader has contacted the Prime Minister - I certainly have - to ask that he legislate to guarantee the NT a minimum two seats. I certainly do expect bipartisan support on this.
Today, I am announcing that we will commission independent, high level research into the methodology used to estimate the Territory population. Officials of my Department of the Chief Minister have had initial discussions with the ABS and we will work cooperatively with them to make sure that the model and collection methods used to estimate our population are the most accurate available. This work is long overdue and will give governments - both the government here and the federal government - a valuable tool with which to plan our future. I expect that work to be completed by the end of the year in time for the next inter-census population review.
Members interjecting.
Ms SCRYMGOUR: Instead of chuckling and being so childish, why don’t you listen?
What is the government doing to ensure the Territory’s population is accurately reflected in official statistics?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, it is a very important question, and I thank the member for Arafura, who is obviously very interested in how we have accurately reflected the numbers of our population in those statistics. Yes, I am aware of claims that some census …
Mr Dunham: You cannot even tell us how many public servants there are. Count them.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Drysdale, you are beginning to get tiresome again.
Ms MARTIN: Yes, I am aware of some claims that census forms were not collected. We know that the ABS responds that there are swings and roundabouts in the census, and that an estimate is made of household numbers when those forms are not returned, or when nobody is home on census day. We do accept that the Bureau of Statistics needs to make such estimates.
However, government is concerned with whether the model that is used by the ABS takes into account the circumstances of the Territory, particularly our population demographics and whether there is inherent under-counting in the model that they use. The factors that we are all very aware of are our large indigenous population, language and cultural difficulties, and a highly mobile population. This is not knocking the ABS. They do the best job they can with the resources available, but we want to ensure that the figures are accurate. Having an accurate as possible picture of Territory population will help us better target the provision of infrastructure and services in an equitable manner.
Under-counting costs the Territory in Commonwealth revenue and, disgracefully, last week we saw that a small statistical blip was enough to affect our federal parliamentary representation. It is a ludicrous result, and I hope that the Opposition Leader has contacted the Prime Minister - I certainly have - to ask that he legislate to guarantee the NT a minimum two seats. I certainly do expect bipartisan support on this.
Today, I am announcing that we will commission independent, high level research into the methodology used to estimate the Territory population. Officials of my Department of the Chief Minister have had initial discussions with the ABS and we will work cooperatively with them to make sure that the model and collection methods used to estimate our population are the most accurate available. This work is long overdue and will give governments - both the government here and the federal government - a valuable tool with which to plan our future. I expect that work to be completed by the end of the year in time for the next inter-census population review.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016