Queensland Treasurer Curtis Pitt

July 27, 2016

Treasurer Curtis Pitt has urged all Queenslanders to make sure they’re counted in the Census on Tuesday, August 9.

“Because Federal funds are often distributed on a per capita basis, every Queenslander who is not counted on August 9 potentially costs our State an estimated $5300,” Mr Pitt said.

“In the 2011 Census, the undercount of Queensland’s total population was estimated at 1.8 per cent or around 77,200 people, which is similar to the population of the Rockhampton Regional Council.

“This could be worth around $400 million to Queensland if we don’t make everyone count.”

Mr Pitt said an accurate Census count helped every level of government plan and deliver services and infrastructure where they were needed.

As Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships, Mr Pitt said he was especially urging Indigenous Queenslanders to ensure they were counted in the Census, too.

“In 2011, the Queensland undercount of people who identify as being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin was 16.8 per cent or an estimated 31,400 people,” he said.

“The Palaszczuk Government is committed to closing the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians in health, education, employment and economic opportunity.

“But to do that we need accurate Census data to help build a complete picture of our communities.”

Mr Pitt said the Census was run by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and aimed to count all people in Australia, including almost five million Queenslanders.

This year the ABS is expecting more than 65 per cent of households to complete their Census online.

From August 1, households will receive a letter from the ABS with a unique Census login and instructions on how to complete the Census online.

Paper forms will still be available to households that require them.

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Editorial note:

The Friends Of The Earth are currently organising a “Re-Populate Acland” campaign to persuade people to go to Acland on Census night as a protest against New Hope Coal, whose coal mine led to the town’s depopulation.

While southburnett.com.au can understand the sentiments behind the campaign – and can admire a unique protest when we see one – any South Burnett residents who complete their Census at Acland will cause undercounting in our own region.

This could cost the South Burnett both Federal and State Government funding over the next five years.

We would encourage any residents who want to support the “Re-Populate Acland” campaign to donate the cost of the trip to Friends Of The Earth or change their Facebook status to “I’d rather be in Acland …”,  but, please, stay home on Tuesday, August 9, and be counted in the South Burnett!


 

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