Ethnicity census results

Mr Farrar over at Kiwiblog tells us that about 1/8 of New Zealanders considered themselves in the recent census as 'New Zealanders' which has apparently buggered comparisions of ethnicity with previous censuses.

The inclusion of the term 'New Zealander' was long overdue and personally have always made a point of marking the 'Other' box on official forms and manually entering 'New Zealander', without any qualifying ethnicity.

Statistics NZ (SNZ) continues to use the derogatory and offensive term 'Pakeha' as a qualifier - the term is always used with negative connations. I am definitely NOT a 'stranger' in my birth country.

Also SNZ keeps probing to to find out how much New Zealander a person might be, providing choices such as 'European New Zealander' or 'Pakeha New Zealander'. SNZ marks all persons who mark Other/New Zealander as NZ Europeans, further skewing results. If a person is born in NZ, they should be a 'New Zealander' - end of story! Should SNZ need other genetic makeup questions, they should be asked separately.

I have spent many years representing my country, in various locations around the world and know from first hand experience that the unqualified "New Zealander" is the only way we are known overseas.