Electoral Commission, police and Stats NZ warned of marae census allegations last year
Sunday, 4 August 2024
Three government agencies were alerted to allegations of misuse of census data at Manurewa Marae last year.
The Electoral Commission, which received a complaint three days before the election, passed details to Stats NZ, which runs the census.
Police, who were also sent the email, nor the official data agency will confirm what — if anything — they did in response.
Stats NZ launched an investigation in late May after the Sunday Star-Times revealed allegations from former marae staff that private information collected during the census was used by Te Pāti Māori for political campaigning.
A government inquiry is also under way after further claims emerged in June that cellphone numbers collected during a Covid-19 vaccination drive at the marae were later misused.
Te Pāti Māori strongly deny claims that data was misused.
The marae was selected by the commission as a polling booth at the election, a controversial decision because Takutai Moana Natasha Kemp was the chief executive and also standing for Te Pāti Māori in Tāmaki Makaurau.
She went on to narrowly beat Labour incumbent Peeni Henare.
In the wake of the election, the marae was at the centre of claims it had broken electoral laws by providing food during the advance voting period.
The Commission received a number of complaints, before and after polling day, about treating but chose not to refer the matter to police.
But emails released under the Official Information Act reveal the that one of the complaints, from Brian Tamaki’s Freedoms NZ party, also referred to allegations about the census, which took place in the first half of 2023.
Three days from polling day, party secretary Jenny Marshall, raised “Census Data Violation” with the commission.
She wrote: “Previous employees of Manurewa Marae have reported illegal actions by Manurewa who were commissioned to collect data for the census.
“When collecting census data, Te Pāti Māori supporters took a copy of the census form data for their political party database. They also signed up non-voters and retained this data as well.
“They encouraged all Māori they engaged with for the purposes of the census, to vote Te Pāti Māori. Te Pāti Māori also directed census funding towards their political parties' promotional activities.
“The EC have failed to act on any of these reports from the general public and they’ve now raised these concerns with us.”
The commission’s senior legal adviser Dean Shirley responded the following day. “This is a matter that the commission cannot assist you with,” he wrote. “We suggest you contact Statistics New Zealand and the Manurewa Marae with your concerns.”
Karl Le Quesne, Chief Electoral Officer, said he mentioned the allegations to Government Statistician Mark Sowden in a regular meeting over coffee on November 24.
“I said there was an allegation that staff at Manurewa Marae may have misused census data and that the Commission had advised the complainants to raise it with Stats NZ,” Le Quesne said. “The email and contact details were not passed on as we had already suggested to the complainant that they contact Stats NZ.”
Le Quesne provided a file note to The Post which notes the allegations as one of the topics discussed.
He said the commission did not discuss the allegations with police.
In a statement, a spokesperson said: “Police can confirm it is making enquiries into matters relating to Te Pati Māori. While that work is ongoing, police is not in a position to provide any further detail.”
A spokesperson for Stats NZ said it could not comment because the questions were within the scope of its investigation.
Te Pāti Māori President John Tamihere has previously strenuously denied that census information was collected and misused. He said the allegations were driven by complainants with a gripe.