From Stephen_Christie@moh.govt.nz Mon Aug 16 18:33:58 1999
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Date: Tue, 17 Aug 1999 13:33:00 +1200
Subject: Re: WAPHGIS: only in the USA
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<<On another topic, I am ignorant of how most countries carry out their
census, why, and where the information is located. In the US the taking of
the census is in the Constitution for the purpose of establishing political
representation. I imagine the same elsewhere for the most part. (it
certainly has nothing to do with public health or welfare) We do it every 10
years and there are fights over how it is to be done, how much information
should be collected, etc. because right and left wing (as much as there
really is a left and right in the US) are worried about how political
boundaries might be drawn given that different income and ethnic groups in
different locations tend to vote (somewhat) consistently one way of the
other.  How about Australia? and other places.>>

New Zealand has a five-yearly census, last one being in 1996.  For information
about it and the availability of data, have a look at www.stats.govt.nz

Small area data is not freely available - you have to pay through the nose for
      it, and StatsNZ will only release data that comply with very strict
      protocols to avoid any chance of compromising the anonimity of
      individuals.



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