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Newsroom
18-06-2025
- Politics
- Newsroom
Number is up for error-ridden NZ census – so what fills the data void?
Analysis: Since early in the Old Testament, leaders have counted their population. Sometimes to raise taxes, sometimes to raise an army. They counted the men, their wives and children, their donkeys, goats and sheep … Indeed, the fourth book of the Christian Bible is named 'Numbers', because it starts and finishes with God ordering censuses of the Israelites. Well, Statistics Minister Shane Reti may not be God, but he has now ordered an end to the NZ census. The census is a comprehensive record dating back to 1851, when the colonial Government also saw fit to count the numbers of citizens and their sheep (233,043) and cattle (34,787) … though it didn't count Māori. There's something simple and comforting about totting up numbers like that. It lacks the nuance and sophistication of randomised surveys and other statistical data collections tools; it's something we can all understand and trust. That will be a problem for Reti, with his announcement that the Government is doing away with the census. 'This approach will save time and money while delivering more timely insights into New Zealand's population,' he says. He points out that the cost of conducting the five-yearly census has risen 'astronomically' from $104 million in 2013, to $325m in 2023. If the 2028 census had gone ahead, it was expected to come in at $400m. Instead, Statistics NZ will measure New Zealand, New Zealanders and those visiting here (not to mention our sheep and cattle) using other tools. Specifically, so-called administrative data – which is information about us that's already collected by other agencies, including Immigration NZ, Inland Revenue, the Ministry of Social Development, Health NZ, ACC, schools and the courts. That will be rounded out by regular smaller surveys of no more than 5 percent of the population each year. Now, pollsters have got extremely good at designing survey questions, quizzing samples of the population, correcting for all sorts of demographic imbalances, and then extrapolating from those findings to the wider population. But as we know from every election campaign, those polls are closely scrutinised by politicians, spin doctors, the media and the wider population. The slightest aberration is seized on as evidence of the unreliability of polling. This has always been the case, but in the last few years official information has faced its own challenge. There are large numbers of people, here and overseas, who have become intuitively suspicious of governments, their institutions, and their science and data. So Stats NZ (which already commissions some surveys) now faces a trust problem. It must now persuade New Zealanders and international stakeholders to trust official statistics that are extracted from administrative data (which will feel intrusive to many) and from surveys (which will feel feel opaque and unreliable to many more). It's been coming for a long time, but nonetheless, this is a bad time to drop the census. This is a post-truth era when New Zealand and the world need facts they can trust. But Stats NZ's trust problem is not just the local manifestation of worldwide culture wars; it's also a problem directly of Stats NZ's own making. It's botched two censuses in succession. In 2018, the shift towards online data at the expense of field operations delivered far lower-than-expected response rates and data quality concerns, particularly for Māori and Pacific populations. Government Statistician Liz MacPherson was forced to tender her resignation. Then her successor, Mark Sowden, quit after two damning reports into the misuse of 2023 census data for party political purposes. After Sowden's departure, former Inland Revenue deputy commissioner Mary Craig picked up the poisoned chalice of Stats NZ chief executive and Government Statistician, as least on an acting basis. Like Reti, she's fronting a decision that was made by others, but she's putting a brave face on it. 'This is an exciting and necessary change,' she says. 'The traditional way of running a nationwide survey on census day can no longer be justified, due to rising costs, declining survey response rates, and disruption from events, like Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023.' She and Reti are right that the pace of policy-making requires information that is updated more than once every five years – though, to be fair, most of that data is already available, subject to compliance with the Privacy Act. Newsroom asked Sean Broughton, Stats NZ's population and housing statistics spokesperson, how New Zealanders can be confident that their information is being treated properly, and that the statistical reporting remains robust. 'As you say, the enduring challenge of maintaining New Zealander's trust and confidence is paramount,' Broughton acknowledges. 'Stats NZ is committed to building trust and reassuring New Zealand that we will protect the privacy and security of their information.' Laws and policies guide how Stats NZ protects and manages data, including the Privacy Act and the Data and Statistics Act. 'There are strict privacy, security, and confidentiality rules in place.' As for the reliability of the reporting, a cross-government chief executive group will lead and support the collective effort to improve admin data, Broughton says. Internal and external governance structures will be put in place that provide appropriate technical and governance oversight. That's critical, because official statistics are not only of curiosity value. They inform the Government where to invest $200 billion of infrastructure capital over the next 20 years – housing, schools, hospitals, climate change mitigation and adaptation … And as former Government Statistician Len Cook points out, they help us understand the dynamics of land use changes. For instance, those sheep numbers (233,043 in 1851) had risen to 76 million in 1976, but have now fallen back to 23 million. That means farmers moving off their land; school rolls falling; rural economies stagnating. Why is this? And is it a healthy evolution towards a lower carbon, high-tech economy – or is it a problem that governments and communities need to address? There is enormous variability in the drivers of population change and age structure among different local and national communities. The interaction between policy and population change is weakly understood. Writing for Newsroom, Cook warns of a coming 'population storm' for which we may now be ill-prepared. 'Falling fertility, rising life expectancy and volatile migration flows mean that the fiscal impact of demographic change from static policy settings will have the same effect as a fall in government revenue of over 30 percent by 2045,' he says. 'Almost all publicly funded services will face pressures of a far greater magnitude than we are currently seeing. Without regular knowledge we can trust, we will have little information to plan with.' Reti calls the statistics changes 'getting back to basics' – but to many, these contemporary data collection tools won't feel so 'basic' as simply counting everyone in the country. Persuading them to trust this new data? That's a task of Biblical proportions.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
What is the Church of Satanology? Here's its beef with Florida schools
'Satan Loves the First Amendment. Broward Schools Didn't.' Those are the first words you'll read – in all capital letters – if you visit the Satanology website. You might be asking yourself, what is Satanology? It's a church founded by a former Palm Bay resident and activist, Chaz Stevens, who's out to 'expose religious favoritism in America's schools.' The Church of Satanology and Perpetual Soiree sent an email to Brevard's school board and superintendent this week, requesting banners for the religion to be placed in five schools. 'What happens when an atheist dares to hang a "Satan Loves the First Amendment" banner on a public school fence?' the Satanology website says. 'If you're Chaz Stevens, all hell breaks loose — and that's the point.' Here's what we know about The Church of Satanology and Perpetual Soiree and why it's got beef with Florida schools. By definition, Satanology is the study of the person of Satan, usually as he is depicted through the lens of the Christian Bible. 'Satanology is the study of the person and work of Satan. It's strange that Satan is not understood very well by believers today,' Evidence Unseen, a Christian website, says. 'Christian teachers fluctuate between various extremes: either denying Satan or obsessing over him.' The Church of Satanology, run by the Ministry of Chaz the Bropostle, is a more political, constitution-based effort than it is an actual religion. 'Welcome to Satanology — our sharp-toothed campaign to expose viewpoint discrimination in public schools, where Christian churches get banners but the Church of Satanology and Perpetual Soirée' gets the boot,' The Church of Satanology website says. More on Satanology and Florida schools: Founder of Church of Satanology requests banners be hung at 5 Brevard high schools 'In 2023, Chaz challenged Broward County Schools after spotting banners from Calvary Chapel slapped on public property.' Stevens then requested equal space for his banner that said 'Satan loves the First Amendment.' 'The result? The church banners came down, the lawyers came out, and the school board flipped policy overnight,' the Satanology website says. 'But Chaz isn't stopping. This isn't about goat heads and pitchforks — it's about LGBTQ+ kids, secular freedom, and the equal treatment of all beliefs in public spaces.' A quote from Stevens on the Satanology website says, 'I don't believe in Satan. I believe in fairness.' The website also calls Satanology 'First Amendment judo,' saying, 'We're using their own rules to make them flinch — and it's working.' Stevens, a Florida Tech graduate who now lives in Boca Raton, sent a letter to Brevard's school board and superintendent on May 19. He requested his Satanology banners be put up at five Brevard County schools, including Palm Bay Magnet High School, which he said already has a religious banner up on campus. 'Brevard Public Schools did not confirm if such a banner exists,' FLORIDA TODAY reported on May 19. 'Stevens told Florida Today the banner hangs on the school's fence and advertises a church.' Here are the five schools where Stevens requested banners be put up: Viera High School Melbourne High School Heritage High School Palm Bay Magnet High School Rockledge High School. Almost all of the state statutes dealing with religious expression in public schools work to create a nondiscriminatory environment for students and employees of public schools in Florida. But one section of the state law that governs religious freedom mentions schools giving equal opportunity to religious and secular groups that choose to use school resources or want to advertise their meetings. And Stevens' church isn't using school resources or advertising meetings, just asking to put up a banner. Here's what that section of the state statute says: 'A school district shall give a religious group access to the same school facilities for assembling as given to secular groups without discrimination based on the religious content of the group's expression. A group that meets for prayer or other religious speech may advertise or announce its meetings in the same manner and to the same extent that a secular group may advertise or announce its meetings.' This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Church of Satanology, Florida schools face-off. What we know
CBS News
25-03-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Iowa law banning school library books depicting sexual acts on hold again after judge's ruling
Iowa cannot, for now, continue to enforce part of its book ban law , a federal judge said Tuesday, giving major publishers that sued the state the second temporary reprieve they requested. The new decision from U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher again temporarily blocked the part of the law that prohibits school libraries and classrooms from carrying books that depict sex acts. The law's section that bans books depicting sex acts from school libraries includes an exception for religious texts, like the Christian Bible. The law was first approved by Iowa's Republican-led Legislature and GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds in 2023, but key parts, including the book ban, were temporarily blocked by Locher before they became enforceable. That decision was overturned in August by the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, meaning the law has been enforceable during the current school year. The appellate court told the lower court that it failed to apply the correct analysis in determining whether to temporarily block the law. In Locher's decision Tuesday, he stated that the unconstitutional applications of the book restrictions "far exceed" the constitutional applications "under both legal standards the Court believes are applicable." Expecting an appeal, Locher also included an alternative standard where the restrictions could be considered constitutional but added he does not believe it should be applied in this case. Major publishers have also sued Florida's Department of Education in 2024 for pulling books from school shelves. Between July 2021 and December 2023, Florida had 3,135 book bans recorded across 11 districts – the highest in the nation, according to a report released by Pen America last April. A 2023 law bans books that depict or describe "sexual conduct" or are "inappropriate for the grade level and age group for which the material is used."
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Former Intel CEO Gelsinger joins religious-oriented tech firm Gloo for AI push
By Stephen Nellis SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Gloo, a Boulder, Colorado-based firm that offers technology tools to Christian churches and other faith groups, said on Monday that Pat Gelsinger is joining the firm as its head of technology and executive chairman, where he will help the group develop AI tools such as virtual assistants and chatbots. Gelsinger is the former CEO of both chipmaker Intel and Broadcom-owned VMware. Gelsinger left Intel last year after a clash with its board over his turnaround plans. Gelsinger's job at Gloo will be his first operational role since leaving Intel. Gelsinger, a lifelong Christian who has helmed a group in the San Francisco Bay area working to expand church membership in the area for more than decade, previously served on Gloo's board as non-executive chairman since 2018. Founded in 2013, Gloo last year raised $110 million in growth financing for an AI push. It is developing chatbots with a "safe search" option and answers grounded in the Christian Bible. Gelsinger will oversee Gloo's product and engineering efforts. 'Technology has the power to connect, uplift and transform lives — but only when built with purpose,' Gelsinger said in a statement. Sign in to access your portfolio
Reuters
24-03-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Former Intel CEO Gelsinger joins religious-oriented tech firm Gloo for AI push
SAN FRANCISCO, March 23 (Reuters) - Gloo, a Boulder, Colorado-based firm that offers technology tools to Christian churches and other faith groups, said on Monday that Pat Gelsinger is joining the firm as its head of technology and executive chairman, where he will help the group develop AI tools such as virtual assistants and chatbots. Gelsinger is the former CEO of both chipmaker Intel and Broadcom-owned VMware. Gelsinger left Intel last year after a clash with its board over his turnaround plans. Gelsinger's job at Gloo will be his first operational role since leaving Intel. Gelsinger, a lifelong Christian who has helmed a group in the San Francisco Bay area working to expand church membership in the area for more than decade, previously served on Gloo's board as non-executive chairman since 2018. Founded in 2013, Gloo last year raised $110 million in growth financing for an AI push. It is developing chatbots with a "safe search" option and answers grounded in the Christian Bible. Gelsinger will oversee Gloo's product and engineering efforts. 'Technology has the power to connect, uplift and transform lives — but only when built with purpose,' Gelsinger said in a statement.
