Hon Maurice Williamson
Minister of Statistics
14 December 2012 Media Statement

Appointments to Statistics Advisory Committee

Statistics Minister Maurice Williamson today announced one appointment and two reappointments to the Advisory Committee on Official Statistics (ACOS).

Professor Natalie Jackson, Director of the National Institute of Demographic and Economic Analysis, and Professor of Demography at Waikato University, will join the committee for an initial term of three years.

“Professor Jackson has expertise in demographic research and teaching. Her research is focused on the different drivers and patterns of population ageing across and within Australia and New Zealand,” Mr Williamson says.

Current members Kim Hill and Murray Bain have been reappointed to the committee for a further term, until June 2014.

Ms Hill is a broadcaster and host of Radio New Zealand’s Saturday Morning programme. Mr Bain was Acting Deputy Chief Executive, Science and Innovation, at the Ministry for Business, Innovation, and Employment, and is currently an independent consultant.

ACOS provides independent advice on official statistics and the official statistics system to the Statistics Minister and the Government.

“I'm pleased Professor Jackson is adding her considerable expertise to the committee, and glad both Ms Hill and Mr Bain are returning for another term," Mr Williamson says.

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On Failures Of Care For Those With Mental Disabilities

Hard to imagine a more disturbing insight into the treatment of the vulnerable than the Health Ministry report on Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau. The Ministry has found that the country’s only kaupapa Maori intellectual disability residential care provider has been “seriously dysfunctional.”

The ministry says the business has failed to recruit and retain quality staff – and says the kaimahi (caregivers) that have been employed are seriously unsuitable for the job, lacking basic knowledge. But Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau doesn’t get all the blame. The report says there’s a significant gap under disability laws to ensure there’s oversight by qualified clinical professionals. More>>