The Government’s controversial plans for a shake-up of the census may now be forced on hold, with Labour indicating it will no longer provide the votes needed for the modernisation process to get through Parliament. “We are particularly concerned about the effect this could have on Māori, Pasifika, rainbow communities, disabled people, and hard-to-reach rural communities,” Labour said, noting the disproportionate effect that poor-quality data could have on Māori. The party said changes should not go ahead until an independent review of the proposed census model, including costings of the available options, had been completed and made available to Parliament. “The Government’s focus is on ensuring New Zealand has a reliable census that delivers the quality data New Zealanders, communities, and policy decision makers can rely on and trust. “It is the government statistician’s role to ensure that the next census meets New Zealanders’ needs, in a financially responsible way.”