National Party leader Simon Bridges says he is losing faith in statistics after the latest Census was "botched", with data yet to be released.
Statistics NZ said in a statement the data was taking longer than expected due to the complex nature of the task. Data was expected to be released by April 2019.
"I know how important Census data is to so many people and I apologise for the inconvenience caused by the further delay," Government Statistician Liz MacPherson said. "It is precisely because the information is so important that we need to take the additional time."
However, Mr Bridges told TVNZ1's Breakfast this morning it was "really serious" and the Chief Statistician was not giving Parliament answers. Parliament often uses Census data to make decisions.
"I'm starting to lose faith actually, in our statistics," Mr Bridges said.
"If they can't get those basics right, then when they're looking to do some things like have wellbeing indicators and look at, you know, our emotional wellbeing and how we feel and stuff - well there's no hope of them getting that right if they can't, as I say, just stick to their knitting and get that stuff right."
In June last year, Statistics NZ reported a lower-than-expected response for the 2018 Census. Since July last year work has been done to understand why.
The 2018 Census is being reviewed independently. Assumptions and factors will be tested and validated as part of the review, which is due to be completed in July this year, a statement on its website says.
Some things being looked into are if the Census, which was largely completed online, was not easy enough to complete, or people were not contacted early enough.
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