2016 census. One step closer to the police state

[Kunama]

With references to the Holocaust, Nigeria's problems, parole system failures etc, it seems this thread is exposing people's paranoid tendencies....

If there is a question in the Census about your likelihood of going off on a tangent, make sure you answer honestly......

[AndrewJ]

Gday Matt

exposing people's paranoid tendencies....

More like healthy skepticism whilst its cloudy.

Andrew

[el_draco (Rom)]

And now my local (Independent) MP is aware of this issue.

[N1 (Mirko)]

Originally Posted by Allan_L

Guys
it is just a poll.
so they can plan, budget for and implement appropriate infrastructure where it is needed:
schools, playgrounds, hospitals, churchs, day care, aged care, jobs, centrelink, police, public transport, government services.
It is not a conspiracy theory movie plot. (IMHO)

More roads and more housing. Will solve everything. No census needed.

[pmrid (Peter)]

Originally Posted by AndrewJ

,
a) Whats to stop people just logging in via a VPN and trying any old set of nos till they get one?
b) Whats to stop me stealing someone elses letter and filling it out however i like ????

I know there are all sorts of crazies out there just waiting to waste an hour filling out false census data online. They are probably the same people with more than an hour to waste nicking someone else's census form, filling it out with false data and posting it. And for such folks, the answer to question (b) is " absolutely nothing ". So if you have the time and inclination to waste, and can see some advantage, profit, purpose in doing so, then no doubt you will. But for me, I just can't see it. I would rather spend that hour trimming my toenails, plucking nose-hair or learning to crochet.


Peter

[AussieTrooper (Ben)]

Originally Posted by N1

More roads and more housing. Will solve everything. No census needed.

That's exactly what has wrecked Melbourne over the past 20 years.
Melbourne used to be a great place to live, and was reasonably affordable. Now, we haven't had a decent public transport upgrade since the early 80s, but with plenty of new housing and roads, inevitably jamming the freeway and metro systems.
A small apartment now costs roughly the same as Tokyo. This would have been laughable not so long ago.
They have all the census data they need, but have spent decades selling us out to vested interests.

[AussieTrooper (Ben)]

Originally Posted by AndrewJ

Gday Nik

It was "recently" if we are talking about using census data to plan for future growth. Imagine if St Kilda road, or the main grid of Melbourne was originally made using roads of only one lane each way, because thats all that was required at the time.

Agree it was a jobs for the boys, ( or more like selling the family silver to allow you to say you have a balanced budget ).
As in my earlier posts, i contended that census data isnt actually used to plan for the future in many cases, as its now based on how vulnerable political seats are, and who complains the loudest.

Andrew

Census data isn't used for roads or the electricity grid. Roads in new estates are done by the developer (with input from council). Freeways are done by who has the best political connections, and the electricity grid is done by submissions made by electricity companies to the national regulator AEMO.
Your second paragraph is absolutely spot on.

[julianh72 (Julian)]

Originally Posted by el_draco

And now my local (Independent) MP is aware of this issue.

Well, that will certainly sort things out ....
</sarcasm>

[el_draco (Rom)]

Originally Posted by julianh72

Well, that will certainly sort things out ....
</sarcasm>

Well, if anyone can get to the bottom of it, Andrew Wilkie, is the bloke to ask. He isn't phased by major party politicians or their drivel at all. With luck, he'll ask some unpleasant questions.

[blindman]

Originally Posted by el_draco

The major problem is that they are demanding you provide information that is not relevant to statistical analysis, ie, your name and address. In the fine print they say that information will be used to more accurately integrate other data from other agencies. Take your pick how many "agencies" that means. The net result is the government will have a complete profile on YOU!

We defeated the Australia card and this is just the same thing by stealth. There is evidence that the census is illegal and at best, an unprecedented invasion of whats left of your personal privacy. It stinks on so many levels I am amazed there aren't protests in the streets but as previously stated, you can cook a frog easily if you heat the water slowly.

OK so why don't you organise street protest?
At the moment enjoying @fontana di Trevi :-)

[glend (Glen)]

News limited has been running a story over the past couple of day about a "National Census Boycott"! It would appear that there are many concerned enough to not bother with it.

[lazjen (Chris)]

Here you go: https://www.facebook.com/events/641445136002950/

And: https://www.efa.org.au/privacy/census-2016/

[clive milne]

in the 2001 census results, just over 73,000 people described themselves as Jedi, which is more people than identified as Salvation Army or Seventh Day Adventists, and only slightly fewer than those who listed their religion as Judaism.

If census data can be so easily skewed by a bunch of Star Wars fans, the potential impact of enough people being sufficiently concerned about safeguarding their privacy to contemplate providing inaccurate responses, or not responding at all, should surely make the ABS think twice about this proposal.

And what happens to other nationally-important data collections that don’t have the force of law behind them? The ABS’s review did not consider how a loss of public trust in the census might impact on some people’s willingness to accept or embrace other government projects, such as the new My Health Record, if they fear the linking of that data with their census records.

I am surprised that the many stakeholders who seek to use census data, or indeed the agencies which run any other major government programs, are apparently willing to risk the integrity of the data on which they rely. Or perhaps, like the rest of us, they were too busy in the week before Christmas to notice that our privacy protections were being wrenched away.

The ABS’s privacy review noted that it faces the risk that this proposal “may cause public concern which results in a reduction of participation levels in ABS collections, and/or a public backlash”. Its suggestions for mitigating that risk are mostly focused on PR efforts to calm us all down, but it also says that the ABS will “reconsider the privacy design for the proposal, if required”.

Which means that there is still hope, that with enough public pressure, the ABS itself – or at least the governments, businesses and charities which care about the reliability of census data – will see this proposal for the folly it is, and return to a census format designed to ensure both the integrity of our data, and the protection of our privacy.

https://www.efa.org.au/2016/03/23/jedi-census/

[AstralTraveller (David)]

Originally Posted by blindman

OK so why don't you organise street protest?
At the moment enjoying @fontana di Trevi :-)

https://www.change.org/start-a-petition?step=ask

[glend (Glen)]

There are thousands of Grey Nomads travelling around Australia and away from home at this time of year, many of them are up in the warm far north. Many stay in free camp locations and would probably not have received that letter mailed to their homes. There are also people who are semi-permanent travellers with no 'home base'. There are also people that live on house boats etc with no address. I can't see how ABS can scoop up all the data from these people, a group rather notorious for being privacy obsessed and anti-government intrusion in their lives. Is ABS really going to try to chase these people down and try and invoke $180 a day fines for late submission, or $1800 for non-lodgement?

[bojan]

Originally Posted by glend

..... Is ABS really going to try to chase these people down and try and invoke $180 a day fines for late submission, or $1800 for non-lodgement?

Maybe this could be one way to try and fix the budget ??

[doppler (Rick)]

Its prove your identity day... aka show us your papers comrade.

[drylander (Peter)]

Tell them they're dreaming
Pete

[el_draco (Rom)]

Originally Posted by blindman

OK so why don't you organise street protest?
At the moment enjoying @fontana di Trevi :-)

What are you doing? I'm challenging it online in this forum, and you responded. I'm also boycotting it, have approached my local MP and a journalist. Does your right to privacy matter??

[pmrid (Peter)]

Originally Posted by glend

There are thousands of Grey Nomads travelling around Australia and away from home at this time of year,

Yeah, I can feel a fishing trip coming on right now. Somewhere very remote.
Peter