Sexuality queries wiped from test census
The ABS scrapped 20,000 test census forms it printed that listed trial questions about gender and sexuality.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics scrapped 20,000 test census forms it printed that listed trial questions about gender and sexuality after holding discussions with the office of Assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar.
Appearing before a Senate estimates hearing on Thursday, outgoing Australian Bureau of Statistics boss David Kalisch said ultimately the decision to do away with the new questions for its census test in the NSW town of Wagga Wagga and Logan in Queensland was his.
“I have had some conversations with the minister’s office about helping them understand the nature of the consideration around the decision,” he said. “They did express a preference but ultimately it was my call.”
Mr Kalisch said the ABS already asked about sex and living arrangements and there might be confusion within the “broader community” about separate questions relating to gender.
Buying into trouble: PM’s political judgment on a cliff edge
Anthony Albanese has been forced to deny he is contemplating life after politics just months before an election campaign, after paying $4.3m for a clifftop house on the NSW central coast where he will live with future wife Jodie Haydon.
Mood brightens on interest rates outlook
Voters are shedding some of their pessimism over the economy, but the more upbeat mood seems to have been overwhelmingly driven by growing hopes that the Reserve Bank could soon cut interest rates rather than Labor’s latest tranche of cost-of-living relief.